We are set to believe that college is the peak of our lives. And why wouldn’t it be? We’re young, we’re independent, and we have no commitments (well other than that research paper due next week, but you’ll get that done). After these short four years it’s all down hill…right?
Maybe it’s the media pushing us to believe that college is meant to be one big (expensive) memory, or maybe it’s the fact that our parents still bring up their college experiences 30 years later. Whatever it is, we stress so much about this being “the best four years” that we sometimes forget that life doesn’t end after college.
We aren’t dead once we receive a diploma. We can joke all we want about how marriage, kids, and jobs suck the life out of people. That anyone over the age of 25 is old. That taking out an extra loan is better than graduating early…but it’s not. Life. Goes. On. Just because an amazing time of your life will one day end does not mean there will not be more to come.
As much as I love college and stress about what’s going to happen when I’ll no longer refer to Athens as home, I know that there are always going to be greater things ahead.
We shouldn’t stress over college being the best four years (because after the best, what’s next?). I’ll be the first to admit that college is amazing, but we shouldn’t stress on thinking that after these four years there’s nothing left to look forward to. There is so much that we haven’t experienced yet and I hope that when I’m 40 there will be things to look forward to- something other than a two for $5 Vegas bomb special in a college bar.
Because one day we are going to grow up…so what comes after college? Honestly, a bunch of stuff that isn’t too exciting to the average 18-22-year-old. Most of us will probably get married years after we pass through College Green for the last time. Some of us could have kids once we become too old to spend every weekend on Court Street. Hopefully, some of us will be lucky enough to find an amazing job after experiencing fest season for the last time.
Boring, right?
Luckily, for most of us, that time is anywhere from a few months to a few years away. Until we get to the age where we actually look forward to these moments, we should take advantage of the opportunities we do have in college. College is great but it isn’t the end, it’s the beginning of the rest of our lives. So with that in mind, cheers to (some of) the best years!
