How College Teaches Us To Appreciate The Small Things

Before coming to college I took a lot of things for granted.

Probably the first of those things was space. While every college is a bit different from the next, they all share one thing: small living spaces. Dorm rooms and bathrooms, if you even get a suite style bathroom, make you seriously rethink how much space you really need to to live. After living in my freshmen dorm for a year and trying to see how much of my stuff could fit under my bed or in my closet, I now refuse to take space for granted. Shower and fridge space is included in that too.

Another thing that I took for granted was convenience. Everything was at my fingertips, but I never realized it. I didn’t have to go down three flights of stairs, or even to a different building, and down a hallway to do laundry. I didn’t have to wash all my dishes by hand. I didn’t have to walk across campus to get food if I ran out. I could simply go to my kitchen and get whatever I needed, or use the microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, or dryer whenever I wanted or needed to. These things aren’t at your disposal in college, at least not for the first year.

Beyond both space and convenience, I took transportation for granted. I could just get in the car and go wherever I needed to. On most college campuses the most common mode of transportation is walking. You have people that bike or board but unless you're a commuter then you're probably not driving around your campus. This lack of effortless transport is something I now do my best to not take for granted. Don’t get me wrong, walking places can be great. Until the weather goes bad.

Something not to take for granted is good food. You learn this in college when you have the same food selection for roughly 4 months straight. It gets old really quickly. It’s nice when you can change it up but that isn’t always an option.

Lastly, but most importantly, time is something I will never take for granted again. College makes you realize how valuable your time really is. Trying to juggle your academic, personal, and social lives is a feat in itself. The better you manage your time, the better you can fully take advantage of all of it.

College makes us realize so many of the things that we take for granted each day. Things and conveniences we overlook and assume will be at our disposal whenever we want or need them but truly aren’t and should be appreciated as such. Like being able to spread your arms in your shower and not touch the sides, or having a dishwasher, or in unit laundry, or a full size fridge. When you come to college,you learn all of these things aren’t guaranteed.