Memes have become ubiquitous these days and that's something I genuinely love. I love scrolling down my Facebook feed and seeing memes my friends have tagged me in. Even better is when I see memes my parents have shared- it's both funny and reminds me of the universality of memes! Memes have created an interconnected culture that is so fascinating and is something I really enjoy. However, I think the prevalence of memes looking negatively upon college can be detrimental.

Don't get me wrong- I love college memes. I love seeing them, getting tagged in them, and sharing them. College is hard, and the memes make me feel like everyone else in college is going through the same struggles I am. That doesn't mean, though, that memes are the healthiest way to deal with the struggles of college. I firmly believe that laughter is a great medicine and way to release stress, but it can't be the only way to relieve stress.

When I see memes that present a negative outlook on college or joke about wanting to die because college is so hard, I laugh. I genuinely think they're funny. However, those ideas stay with me and I think they're beginning to color my mental state and outlook on college. The memes in a way normalize doing poorly in classes or not doing your homework, and neither of those things are good. We should all be striving to do as best we can and doing our work in a timely manner, though of course it isn't always possible.

At least for me, I've noticed the memes working their way into my subconscious and whispering to me when I really don't want to work on a paper or do my Italian homework. They say, "think about how funny it is when you make a joke about not writing your paper," or, "who needs homework? I'm just in college for the free food!" Obviously, those aren't the thoughts I'm supposed to be having about my college coursework! I was always a motivated student in high school, and while I've done decently so far in college, the motivation has been significantly decreasing. It can't all be chalked up to the effects of memes, but I think some of it does stem from that.

I don't want to live my life without college memes, because I do think they're hilarious. However, from now on, I'm going to try to limit my exposure to them and work really, really hard on turning around my attitude towards college. College is hard, and it's supposed to be, but that doesn't mean I should let it give me a negative and cynical look on the world.