After two long semesters, college students are packing up their rooms to head home for the summer. (Who knew there was carpeting under all of those clothes on your floor!?) If you’re anything like me, as you pack, you’ll probably have an existential crisis as you realize how quickly time is flying. Then, as you over-analyze every aspect of your life, you begin to ponder your deepest thoughts and wonder if this whole “life” thing is all going to work out anyway.
With college life and all that it brings, it can be pretty easy to get caught up in our chaotic schedules of trying to succeed in school, setting yourself up for a good career, and making the most of your last few weeks on campus.
Growing up, one of the most important things I was taught to always know is, “where you came from, where you are and where you’re going.”
With the semester wrapping up, we’re feeling all kinds of emotions. Whether it’s the happiness to go home to the comfort of our families, the sadness that’ll come with missing our friends, the pride or disappointment in your grades, the excitement for your internship or the existential crisis because you have no idea what you’re doing with your life...fret not!!!!
Here are a few thoughts to keep you (relatively) sane and headed in the right direction:
Where you came from
What actually matters to you?
In an atmosphere where basically anything is possible, it’s not surprising that people can sometimes lose track of themselves. Take a step back and identify the things that are most important to you. You’ll get an idea of what your priorities should look like. Are you participating in things that make you happy and do you love what you study? Or are you only doing them because that’s what everyone else is doing, or that’s what’ll make the most money when you graduate? Some things are worth temporarily sacrificing for, but if you’re not interested or passionate about anything you’re doing, you can’t expect to be successful or content.
Where you are
Am I surrounding myself with the right people?
Do the the people around you build you up or break you down? If you feel comfortable being your weirdest self around your friends, you’ve found some keepers. But if you’re constantly trying to impress or seem “cool” to others, you should probably put yourself out there and try to find some new people. Negativity is one of the greatest weights someone can carry, and to unnecessarily drag yourself down is just dumb.Surround yourself with those who make you the best you can be.
How do I impact the people around me?
Like I said above, negativity sucks and people don’t want to be around it. Don’t be that guy. Be someone who lifts others up, where they walk away happier than they were before! Compliment them, genuinely concern yourself with what’s going on in their life, talk about their interests! It’s amazing what you can learn from new people.
Am I worrying too much about what the people around me think?
Life is way too short to be normal. If you’re constantly adjusting your behavior based on what others think about you, life’s going to be pretty boring. College is such a unique period in life. You have 4 years surrounded by thousands of people the same age as you, and there are pretty much no rules. Don’t be anything but yourself.
Where you’re going
If there’s something you didn’t like about the year you had, how do you fix that?
What can you spend more or less time doing in the future? Didn’t have enough fun? Had too much fun? If something about your year just didn’t do it for you, learn from that and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Every year is a new start and there’s potential to make each semester better than the last.
What do I need to let go of?
What’s in the past is supposed to stay in the past. It’s simple. Life is too short to let the past drag you down.
How can you get one step closer to where you want to be?
Call up an alumni and ask to shadow their job, read a bunch of books about your major, get an internship for the summer, talk to people who have your dream job. Anything that can give you a better understanding of how to make it to where you want to be will work toward your benefit in the future. Don’t underestimate the power of making a phone call or (*gasp*) going up to someone in person and starting a conversation! It’s surprising how much people appreciate when students show genuine interest in what they do.
