It's been almost a year since I have graduated and stepped into a new part of life, yet I still have some thoughts about how much I truly do miss being at school. When I say I miss college, most people respond with "Why" or "oh, you just miss the experience and the parties."
Fair enough, a decent question is really why would I ever miss a time where I stayed up all hours of the night reading books and writing papers while drinking god knows how many cups of coffee a day? Or to the second response, I only miss the parties and the fun times, not actual college. But while the experiences, people, and fun memories are a huge part of why I miss college so much, they aren't the only things I'm really thinking about.
When I say I miss college I mean I miss the way it made me feel.
Coming from a community college where I didn't leave my hometown or my usual group of friends, coming to a college like Rutgers University was something that truly blew my mind. I don't miss parties, I miss walking down the sidewalk to classes I generally enjoyed, surrounded by people I didn't know but definitely could. I do miss the friends I made, the roommates I had, the work I was proud of, and the classes I really did enjoy and participated in, but I mostly miss how these things made me feel.
Even though I was stressed out and tired, overall I was pretty happy to go out and learn and talk to people in my class that had similar ideas about a book or a topic. Even during the worst times, I was still able to feel free being on my own and was happy scheduling my own days for me. Even when I cried because of test anxiety on top of regular anxiety, I still miss the way the tiny breaks with friends or the most random but funny conversations that would happen at 2 a.m. made me feel better.
There's a lot that I miss about college and plenty of reasons why I would want to relive that time again.
For any students still living their college days, live it up! One day you'll miss those college days, the memories you made, and how you felt even during the times that you were stressed out. Take in every day so when you say you miss your college days, you won't just be talking about silly weekend parties.
