Being eighteen is a really cool thing. At least, that is what it feels like at first. The honest truth is that is it hard and that is very easy to get caught up in the future when everyone struggles in the present.
Personally, I chose college.
The other sad part of this truth is that a lot of people do not have the opportunity to go to college, but somehow, I pulled it off. In high school, I was in marching band and most band kids can tell you that normally that is all you need in life. The band room is where you spend the most time, meet the best and worst types of people and bond not only to create a family but a team, It is the best place to make memories all inside four walls. However everyone eventually lives the glory of a senior year then yikes, what now? Personally, college was my way to get out and adventure and in some words, live my best life.
What no one told you about your initial plans.
Moving to college with a set career path and major is great.You finally know what you want to know until you don't. One day, you wake up in your dorm room with a blank stare realizing you have never dreaded a class so much in your life and how will today ever end and suddenly you start to understand what people mean when they tell you " Plans never work out the way we think". So what now? you are now in your advisers' office with tons of questions about any possible job you can think of and you hear the perfect one. This, of course, begins the cycle of forever changing thoughts. So never trust everything you think about until you understand it.
Social norms are harder now.
Sure, college is the best. It comes with all the freedom any teenager who just stepped off that stage at graduation could ever dream of but it is not as great as Hollywood can make you believe. High school taught us all the cruelty of the world and people in it and how not everyone will like you, just like you won't always like everyone. In college, life steps it up a little bit. Now all the girls have sororities and there is a club for almost everything and somehow, you still feel out of place.
Walking campus is a huge high school hallway nightmare and all you can hope for is that the person who sits next to you in some random liberal studies class you didn't really want or know a lot about is nice. For some people, it is almost like nothing has changed because it is high school times ten but somehow you are still supposed to be considered an adult.
Suddenly you look around all your insecurities come back to haunt you at least a little, making you question if your shoes are okay or does my mascara really look that good? For others, none of this really applies, Some people completely live it up and spread their wings for what they can only hope to be the ride of their lives. For those lucky people, good luck. The rest of us have some rethinking to do.
The hardest part about the hardest part.
When we leave home, as teenagers, we make choices. Jobs, schools, living arrangements, friends, family, relationships, tattoos, makeup, travel, clothes, pets, food and absolutely everything down to what laundry detergent smells best. These are the everyday choices and decisions that help shape us little by little into individuals.With all of these choices and decisions come consequences and benefits that lead to the different roads we can all take in life. Not every day will be the best or the worst and nothing is essentially easy. No matter what you choose and how you go about doing it or how much you may lose in the process, being happy is worth so much more than being what makes others happy. The hardest part about the hardest part if doing what is best for you. Everyone knows that is no easy task nor is it always the high road to take and sometimes, you travel that road alone.
It is okay, we all go through something.
To my fellow college students and to everyone who can relate to this, it is okay to feel stressed and not know exactly what life has in store for you. The future is one the scariest things to all of us because we never know what exactly is going to happen. All we know is that anything is possible and that taking things day by day, even hour by hour, can help us breathe at least a little easier. No matter what it is remember that it is just a bad day, not a bad life and that one exam won't ruin your career and one day work day won't ruin anything either.
Yes, you deserve that break.
Don't think just because you are buried in work and stress that you shouldn't take time for yourself. Get some extra sleep, relax a little and do the things that make you happy. The world will still be spinning when you are done, I promise. Treat yourself sometimes or take that extra time to look and feel your best in the morning. Just because life stresses you out, doesn't mean you have to look like it does because stress doesn't define you, or have any right to control you.
What it means to live your best life.
Living and working for the life that you want, regardless of what everyone else thinks may be one of the most difficult tasks to actually accomplish. As hard as we try, pleasing everyone is impossible even with things as little as your favorite food or what perfume or cologne you wear. Because of that simple fact of life, you would think it would be easier to be ourselves but sadly, that will never be the case. Society takes its toll on everyone eventually making you question your own happiness with some of your favorite things, Life should be what we make it, especially since we only have one good shot at it. So no matter what people tell you, take that trip, eat that dessert, read that book, wear that shirt, buy that album, play that sport, get that haircut, apply to that school, move into that apartment or house, get that pet, buy that makeup, kiss that person, take those pictures, go see that movie and please, live your best life.
