Everyone loves the carnival. The rides, the junk food, the odd element of romance that comes when the person you loves win you an obnoxious stuffed bear.

Pop music, twinkly lights, games, rides, thrills. It’s everyone’s favorite place to spend a hot summer night. College is a lot of the same. It’s a little scandalous, a lot of fun, with pop music, junk food, games, and twinkly lights filling the air.

You start with the games and everything is going well, but then you start to lose your money so you decide to play it safe with the rides. Although the safety standards aren't up to par and the line is long, you decide to test your luck. After all, you can't really lose a roller coaster. But finally, when you start to get nauseous from the ups and downs, you head to what's always been there for you: the sweet, salty, greasy food!

While college is hard work and studying and carnivals seem like carefree fun, they’re actually more similar than you may think. Here are seven reasons why:

1. Carnival games are a lot like a dating pool in a frat house. You spend all your money to hit a stupid bell before you realize the whole system is rigged. You knew you were better off going for the corn dogs instead.

2. Your 8 a.m. classes are a lot like the dunk tank. When it’s you throwing the ball, you miss by a mile, but when it’s your professor, you’re constantly underwater--just like that Italian test you took last week left you.

3. Doing your makeup before going out on a Friday night and expecting to look like a million bucks, but then looking like you just visited a caricaturist instead.

4. You ironically pay for the weird guy to guess your weight, but after the Freshman Fifteen, you don’t even want to know anyway.

5. Your classes are kind of like the carousel. You can go as fast or as far as you want, but you’ll never get ahead.

6. Winning the fish with the ping pong ball is kind of like every freshman girl. You run out to buy one, only to have it die two days later, along with your GPA.

7. And finally, nights out in college are the most similar to a carnival. The whole time you think you’re having fun, but at the end of the night, you’re left broke, hiding from the guy who guessed your weight, and looking everywhere for your friends.