By the time this article is published, it will be less than a month until I graduate college. The cliche is true that the years have flown by. Understanding that the bulk of my college memories have already been made, this final stretch has served as a reflection period for me. I have been very fortunate to have had nearly only positive experiences throughout my college career and understand that receiving a higher education is a privilege I am grateful to have had. My college experience has been one for the books, but I'm here to say truthfully I would be pretty bummed if these were the best years of my life.
Don't get me wrong, I have made great friends, have been able to succeed academically, and have been involved on my campus. When I left high school, I missed my old life during my initial adjustment period of college. But it didn't take long for me to love my collegiate life even more and no longer wish that I could have relived my high school days. I am very confident this will be the same phenomenon with my post-graduate life.
While I know that the time after I receive my diploma will not bring a stress-free lifestyle, college has been a challenge to me and has taught me how thin I can stretch myself. I am constantly worried about how to be maintaining multiple part-time jobs, 18 credits, an internship, campus involvement, and balancing my school life with my life at home -- all while knowing I have debt up to my eyeballs waiting for me in just a short period of time. This is the most broke I hope I will ever be, and I spend all of my free time searching for jobs or in a sheer panic that no one will find me employment-worthy. The chaos that awaits me in my post-collegiate life is inevitable, and will likely bring its own challenges for me to face. But I also know that the life ahead of me brings greater opportunities than the ones I have had so far.
I am patiently eager to enter this next chapter of my life which includes (hopefully) a plethora of career possibilities, a steady income, a place of my own and eventually one day in the far future having my own family. I am excited for the stability that comes with being an actual adult (not pretending to be one while drinking wine and scrolling through Pinterest).
I don't think you can go through college without being told by at least one adult -- "My college days were the greatest days of my life." I think that's great that these people had a memorable college experience, but personally I do not want college to be the best years of my life. The idea that my life won't get any better after two decades of life is extremely depressing to me. Here's to hoping that what lies ahead is even better than what I have already experienced. You work hard in college in order to afford a better lifestyle for yourself one day, and I am excited to see what the future has in store.
