We've all heard it before: "Your college years are going to be the best years of your life." I'm not writing this article to say that my college experience has been ridiculously awful because it really hasn't been. I'm just writing this to keep it real because I've realized that other people I've talked to also aren't having the 24/7 thrill ride through college that's depicted in the movies--- and that's okay.
Maybe it's because of the rigorous school that I go to, the fact that I'm still relatively new here after transferring from community college, or the fact that I'm an introverted person, but college for me has not necessarily been a wild and absolutely amazing time. I appreciate the fact that I'm constantly learning and growing as a person, and I've definitely had my fair share of fun times. At the same time, I really don't think these are necessarily the best years of my life, just as I didn't think high school was the best time of my life either.
I've come to the conclusion that it's dangerous to view any era of your life as "the best years" because it implies that the years that follow won't be nearly as great, and that sucks. While it may feel like we should be fulfilling some kind of prophecy, we really don't have to be. That's not to say that we shouldn't try to make the most of the valuable time we have in college, but we also shouldn't put so much pressure on ourselves because what's the point of adding to all of the pressure that's already weighing us down in our day-to-day lives?
The way I view it, I'm here primarily to get an education, after all, with tuition constantly going up each year I better be getting my money's worth (shoutout to the UC system). Not to be the equivalent of the reality TV girl who says "I didn't come here to make friends," but that's kind of how I feel about college in a sense. I came here to learn, and friendships and fun times are important in getting through the daily grind of college, but these aspects are ultimately secondary to the main reason I'm here.
It ultimately just comes down to not caring about the preconceived notions of who you need to be and what you need to be doing with your life. Instead of focusing on making these years the "best" years of our lives because that's what we're told our experience is going to be, let's just do whatever the heck works for us in the time being and treat these years as we should every year --- with an independent and fierce "I'm gonna do me" attitude.
