Who hasn't been told over and over that high school is supposed to be the best time of your life? Sure, there's the school part, but beyond that, most people aren't responsible for more than making sure they have enough gas money to go out Friday night. I definitely took that advice to heart and couldn't wait for my freshman year. Then the craziest thing happened- it sucked. All. Four. Years. Every aspect of high school was messy for me. My relationships, family, job, and classes had my head spinning. I made it out alive, though, and was really looking forward to the brave new frontier- college. I should have known not to romanticize it too much myself, but I was hearing all of these promises again, and I was dying for some excitement and relief. "College is going to be what you need!" "Think of all that freedom!" Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone besides- buckle up. I'm about to either burst your bubbles or confirm your suspicions. College isn't (always) everything it's cracked up to be.
You can choose how you structure your day, but there's a lot more "have to"s to fit in.
One of my favorite parts about being in college is finally getting to study the things I want to know about (after all of that core stuff is out of the way). On top of that, (for now) I'm not in class seven hours a day! I can pick when I'd like to take my classes, and what sort of course load I want to tackle. The downside, though, is that there's a lot more to squeeze in between classes. First of all, studying in college is no joke. I was one of those kids that never had to try very hard (at first) to get the grades I wanted in high school, and it's been the death of me. Setting aside hours in the double digits to study is a real thing and something you have to be committed to doing if you want to stay on top of all that material. Second, staying involved on and off-campus is something to consider. My freshman year of college, I had a hard time finding a community on campus. Joining clubs and fraternities/ sororities can help a ton with making friends. Having commitments outside of school also looks good on applications! Lastly, adding a job can be intense... and figuring out when you're going to sleep after you finally plan all of your must-dos is even more brutal. I'll cut myself off and leave it at this: college is all about testing your boundaries and pushing limits.
There are zero instructions or definitive answers for how you should be living your life.
This makes me the most irritated. When there's no plan, I'm the first to freak out. I realize that adulting doesn't come with a step-by-step instruction book, but a little more structure would do wonders. Maybe I'm overreacting. After all, I'm the kind of person I didn't feel like I had a handle on my education until my advisor made me a spreadsheet of classes for my entire degree. Me being a spaz put aside, the vast gray area that is college is enough to make anyone nervous. What's "right' or "wrong"? Who do you want to be and what do you want to stand for? It's exciting and terrifying- finding and learning to rely on yourself is completely up to you.
Everything is ridiculously expensive.
If you take nothing else away from this, please let it be this: budget and shop around for your textbooks. Being a broke college kid wouldn't be glamourous even if it could be spun that way. I feel like everything is ten times more expensive in a college town- food, gas, breathing air- you name it. I learned to budget the hard way. Living off of less than what you make is a must for sure. It's fine and super uplifting to treat yourself every now and then, but if you're running a little low on cash, remind yourself that those airpods will still be there after you recover from your phone bill. Try getting the best deals you can on things, especially your books! My entire freshman year I was stubborn and sprung for physical copies of textbooks straight from the bookstore. I'll take a physical copy over an ebook any day, but I can't justify paying one hundred dollars or more for something I can get for ten bucks otherwise. Play it smart and pace yourself.
College isn't everything people make it out to be, just like most things aren't. With more freedom, comes a ton more responsibility. Even though that's the case, there's a lot more to learn at a university than how to nap without being noticed in an 8 am calculus lecture. All of the bad stuff that comes with this stage in life can be learned from, just like in all of them. Play your cards right, and you'll leave school a brand new money-saving, ultra-organized badass!
