The stress of the spring semester is finally over. Grades are being finalized and friends are headed home for a week before the summer semester starts. So much has happened since I started my collegiate journey two years ago. I've learned to trust Rate My Professors to give me guidance in choosing the right professor. I've learned that there are so many fake people and they have no place in my life. Relationships that I thought would last a lifetime have ended and people I never thought I'd be friends with have become lifelong friends.
College is definitely not what it looks like on TV. It's more work than I thought it would be, both socially and academically. I knew it was more work than high school, but staying up till 12 a.m. to make a deadline has become a norm. Balancing friends, work, and school became a constant struggle. I'd want to hang out with friends, but I'd have to miss out because of work. Homework would pile up and seemed to be never ending. Homework, work, homework, work; maybe even bringing homework to work to ensure everything got done. Essays were lost and mental breakdowns became the norm. Netflix became a staple in my life in helping to escape from homework. One more episode turned into whole seasons. Don’t worry, mom, my homework did get done.
I think the biggest thing that I have learned in college is to no longer rely on people. In high school, the same people were always there, day in and day out. They knew everything that was going on because they were always there. In college, it’s much different. Everyone has different lives, different schedules. It becomes harder to find the time to sit down and catch up. That isn’t to say that it is impossible, but unless you are best friends with your roommate, finding time can be hard. But those friends that are willing to make the time, to have an actual conversation with, to go get food with, to do homework with: those are the ones to cherish. Not everyone will make the time, whether a friend or a boyfriend/girlfriend, so those who do are the ones that will hold a special place in your life.
In college, always put yourself first. I learned that the hard way and it is hard for me to remember that my happiness is just as important as my friend’s happiness. College is hard, with trying to balance a social life on top of classes and homework and maybe even work. But finding the time to make yourself happy should always be your number one priority. College can either be the best four years or the worst, and that all depends on you. Nobody is going to make or break college for you, but they may make it better or worse. Just remember, college is a time for you to find yourself. Make the most of your time in college because after college, you enter the real world.
