One’s time in college is a time of growth. There will be times of success and serendipity and there will be times of failure and mistakes. It is the ups and downs of being a college student that make it such a unique experience. No matter if we like it or not we are growing up and let’s be honest: growing up can be grueling. While not all college students have faced every single one of these difficulties personally, here are some common “growing pains” most college students have related to at least once in their college careers and these “growing pains” are beneficial in the long run.
Loneliness
Loneliness is not something people prepare you for when you go off to college. During all the excitement of high school graduation and preparing for college no one tells you how lonely your first couple weeks or even months might be. I remember coming home from college a month into my first semester and crying to my big brother about how alone I felt. He made me feel a lot better by just letting me know that I wasn't abnormal in feeling that way.
We weren't designed to thrive alone but that does not mean you cannot benefit from a season of being lonely. Loneliness gives you an oppputunity to discover more about yourself and what you desire from life.
Romantic Rejection
It has happened to all of us. You lock eyes with someone from across the room (or dorm hall) and next thing you know you have caught the dreaded "feelings." You have a crush. The tricky thing about crushes is that they are not always reciprocated. A moment of rejection can be one of the most pivotal moments in personal growth. In that moment of rejection you get to decide how you handle it. Will you let it break you or will you pick yourself up and maybe find another cutie?
High school friends
High school friends are just that--high school friends. Whether you want it to happen or not the faces that you saw Monday to Friday seven hours a day for four years will become strangers to you. More often than not this process will not be very upsetting to you--not in relation to at least 98 percent of your graduating class. Nevertheless there will always be those, one or two friend,s that you wish more than anything else you could still have in your life.
Failure
Failure doesn't have to pertain to an academic failure although those can be awful. Failing an exam, failing a class or failing to prioritize, everybody fails at some point. Failure is painful and shameful but there is always a sliver lining. Through our mistakes we can learn. We can learn what really matters to us and how not make the same mistake twice that led us to the failure.
Breakups
It doesn't have to be just relationship breakups, friend breakups can sometimes even hurt worse. While you are growing, sometimes you grow away from some of the people who you love the most. You both want something different out of life and that can be a hard pill to swallow when you pictured this person celebrating with you on your 40th birthday.
When the end of a relationship or friendship hits it can leave a rather large wake. The breakup was not in vain if after the pain passes you can look back and say that because of that person you were able to learn something new.
Growth is beautiful and while it be difficult, growth is better than stagnation. Once you stop growing on a mental, emotional or spiritual level you become your worst enemy. So grow. Grow like the whole world is watching.
