When you're little you dream about going to college and having the life that other college students have in the movies. You dream about getting good grades, being independent, going to frat parties and having your life together. But of course dreams aren't reality, and the reality of a college student in today's day and age is much different from the one a decade ago.
This isn't an article looking for sympathy, or looking for an easy way out of the course load, this is an article to make people realize just how much stress college professors put on their students.
I used to love school, I loved learning and getting good grades came easily to me. I reached college and it was a totally different ball game, which I expected. I still worked hard to earn the grades that I did, and I always put my social life on the back burner and spend every night of the week studying. I don't have one day off, between school, work and the insane course load I have.
College isn't what it's like in the movies, no matter how much you want it to be.
1. Balancing the course load of five-six different classes
A course load that makes you stay up till the early hours of the morning. You're lucky if you get at least five hours of sleep a night.
2. Constantly second guessing yourself
Will you make it out alive and achieve all your dreams? We wonder if this is all worth it.
3. Anxiety attacks and panic attacks
For many, this is something they've never experienced in early education levels. You get anxiety attacks when you realize how much work you have to complete within a short period of time, panic attacks when you realize how competitive grad school is, and how hard it is to get a job once you're in the real world.
4. Coffee, and no sleep
If you want to succeed in college, you'll rely on at least three cups of coffee a day, and stay up till four in the morning every night. Just to wake up, go to school, and do it all again.
5. Trying to maintain your sanity
While you're balancing work, school, social life, and working out.
6. Putting weeks, days and hours into studying for a test to get a crappy grade
This instantly makes you feel like you won't accomplish anything. Getting a bad grade in college, after putting so much work into it, is one of the crappiest, most hopeless feelings you'll ever feel.
7. Everyone telling you to keep going
"You only have a few semesters left," and you smile and agree with them. We all know it's not as easy as they think.
8. We aren't learning for fun anymore
Not caring about what you learn about, just caring about passing the exams and the class.
9. Your three of your professors putting their exams on the same day
And you wonder what you did to deserve this in your life.
10. Walking around campus to no one looking happy, or smiling
Everyone looks miserable, looks tired and looks like they've had enough.
11. Counting down the days until the next break
And cringing the thought about going back to the reality school brings.
Don't get me wrong, when you have the time to go out and live your life, college brings some of the greatest moments of your life. But for most of us college students, we don't get that "free" time. On days that we don't have assignments due, we're still having work to get done and things to study. We're in college just to pass the classes, get good grades and get a successful life. In order to be successful in all these areas, we lose our sanity, are stressed out of our minds, lose our confidence and find ourselves struggling to make it through the school weeks.
