To The College Student Not Graduating In Four Years

College is hard. For starters, it teaches you how much you actually didn't know about yourself as well as the world. You enter this entire new world where nothing is sugar coated and where you meet people entirely different than you. You are expected to know exactly what you want to do when you grow up and exactly who you want to be. Some may push you into a major for different reasons or you may pick a major you thought you would love, but you realized throughout the semesters you had no idea what you wanted to do at all. You get thrown into a completely new experience right after high school... you are still just a kid, you don't know what you want to do this weekend much less what you want to do when you graduate college or the rest of your life for that matter.

You changed majors more than once, trying to find something you were passionate about. Because of those changes, you pushed yourself back. As much as you'd love to graduate "on time" there is no way you'll be able to... and that is OK. In your head you've given yourself a timeline--graduate in four years, get a job, make money, get married, have children and so on. You assume that's what your parents and everyone else expects you to do. So you feel like you've disappointed everyone when you don't walk across that stage in exactly four years. College is where you're allowed to be unsure of the future, although there are people around you whose got this college and life thing down pat. Don't let those people discourage you, you don't have to have everything figured out yet.

If you're like me, you've changed your major one too many times (three to be exact), you've transferred schools because the first one you didn't fall in love with like you thought you would. Things like that set you back, no matter how hard you work and how much extra effort you put in your classes. Again, that's OK.

So just in case you didn't catch what I've been trying to say... it's OK to not graduate in exactly eight semesters. Because whether you're a semester "behind," a year "behind," or you're just not sure how far "behind" you are, you're going to be FINE! You're not letting anyone down if it takes you a little longer to figure out what you want to do. Graduating from college is a huge accomplishment. Walking across the stage while holding that important piece of paper in your hand is a memory you will never forget.

So you take your time... don't rush through with a major you hate or a school you can't stand to be at. It takes time to create greatness. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of myself. And I'm proud of everyone who pushes through each day, semester and year of college. We are the true winners.