Last year, I was in the same position you are right now. I was still debating which college would be the one in my future. I was mourning the fact that I had not been accepted to my dream school. I was also celebrating that I was accepted to college when many people said I wouldn't make it.
Last year, just like you, I was excited to venture into this journey everybody has pumped into this big adventure you get only once in your life. Trust me. It is okay if you are nervous. It is okay if you are scared of the college experience. It is okay if you still don't know what to major in. It is all okay.
I'm almost done with my first year at UCLA, and I still don't have the barest idea of what I want to study. Sure, I tell people which major I am interested in, but in all honesty, sometimes I'm not feeling that anymore. I still don't know what I want to do with my life. One day, I want to be a news reporter; another, I want to be a journalist; another, I want to be a novelist or a poet; others, I want to be an actor. I feel so lost in this case.
Still, I shouldn't let this discourage me. Neither should your doubts about your future. They say that during these four years is when you find yourself. No need to haste when you don't know what to do at the age of eighteen. I mean, who really has their life figured out at this point? Nobody, right.
And neither should you let other people bring you down. A lot of people in my family questioned why I was applying to major colleges. I was just a punk from a different country who had come to the US in search of a bigger life. According to them, I wasn't going to get anywhere. On March last year, I got my acceptance letter to UCLA, and right now I am writing this article in one of the cafes on campus while drinking a smoothie. I flicked mental middle fingers at my entire family for days after I got my acceptance letter.
If I was able to get into the nation's top public school, I don't see why you can't do well too. Sure, my first quarter wasn't my best one. I got my first F ever here, but I am slowly bringing myself up. Supposedly, only the top of their classes attend this school. I decided that I should step up my game and become the student they accepted into their prestigious university.
And if I can do it, I'm sure you too.
But let me warn you: as cool as it may sound, college is a heavy place. There'll be a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of stress because of papers and homework and midterms and finals. Every day, it will be a constant between "Do I want to go to class or not?" It will not be easy, I can assure you that. You need to put more effort than you did back in high school. The quarter here barely started, and I already skipped a class and dropped another.
At college, many things can happen within the span of three days.
