Being a college student is like riding a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs. There are times of frustration, anger, anxiety, and stress, but also times of joy, happiness, and flat out fun. An undergraduate degree consists of four years; freshman, sophomore, junior, and your senior campaign. Throughout those four years, mistakes are going to be made, lessons will be learned, but you become a better person at the end of it all. Despite the many things that could be learned throughout the college experience, there are five main lessons that are essential to learn throughout a student's four years.
Mistakes are going to happen - and it’s OK.
College is a place to experiment, take risks, and learn from your actions. Former President Bill Clinton is quoted saying, “If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person.” Sure, your academics are very important in preparing yourself for your career path, but the mistakes you make in college turn into life lessons learned that will make you a better person in the long run. You can’t find that in any textbook.
Don't forget to make the most of it, and that means having some fun!
One of the biggest mistakes college students make, especially during their junior and senior years, is over-looking their college experience. And it's not their fault. Colleges, professional recruiters, and even parents play a large role in creating this “monster” mentality that students should be focusing on what they are going to do once they leave college, in all phases.
Yes, students definitely should have some idea of what they want to do after their four years, whether it be entering the workforce or enrolling in graduate school. Yes, students should be shaping their resume, work experience, and coursework in order to present themselves in the best way possible once they graduate.
At the same time, you only have four years at the undergraduate level. Make the most of it. Enjoy the experience. Take things slow. Don’t look toward the future too much, otherwise you will miss the present. One of the biggest things in life is to have no regrets. The worst thing you could do to yourself is looking back 10 years later and telling yourself you should have enjoyed your college experience more. Balance it out — there is a way to have fun in college while at the same time planning and preparing yourself for the future.
Your grades don't define who you are.
If you bomb a biology exam, it is not the end of the world. If you do not do as well on an assignment as you wanted to, you aren’t not going to get a job. If you get a B in one class your whole college career, that’s OK. One assignment, test, or project is not going to kill you. You find out what you did wrong, learn from your mistakes, and move on. Easy as that. You will get a job, trust me.
You're on your own.
This is the life lesson that kind of hits you in the face as soon as you step foot on campus. Spoon feeding is over. Hand holding is over. In everything you do on a college campus, you have to advocate for yourself, because no one is going to be there to do it for you. At the same time, it's a valuable life lesson, because once you graduate, it gets worse.
Everything you do today prepares you for tomorrow.
Lastly, every single decision you make, every step you take, and everything you do throughout your four years of college prepares you for the future. Whether you land a great internship that will prepare you greatly for your career aspirations, or you make a bad decision on a weekend, it all prepares you for your future. It is what you learn now that you take with you into the “real world” and even the littlest occurrences during your undergraduate time will shape who you are, and what you do in the future.
College is a place where lessons are learned. It's up to the individual whether they take these life lessons and learned from them or not. The four years that you have in college are pretty special, and they should not be taken for granted. Enjoy every day, every night, every bad day and every good day, because you only have four years to do it.
