Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

-Romans 12:2

College is a time where young people are supposed to experiment and find out who they are and who they want to be. It is often associated with wild parties, late sleepless nights, exhaustion, and cramming for tests. These years are the prime of your life and it is 100% OK to mess up and make intentional poor decisions.

But what happens when you already know who you are? What happens then?

Now that the New Year is here and we have all sighed that sigh of relief that 2016 is behind us, I am looking back at the semester I just finished and at all of the choices I made along the way. I, like many others I know, have often caught myself saying, “Well, this is the life I’m living now” or “Whelp, that could have gone better.” Sometimes it seemed like I just baaaarreellyyyy scraped my way to the finish line. I found myself blaming all of my stupid decisions on the norms of what a college student is expected to do. In all actuality, these aren’t really choices that would be considered “bad” decisions, really. They are just little things that we do throughout the day that may not be the most practical or productive choices we could make. I stay up too late which leads to me feeling exhausted the next day or I eat unhealthily claiming that you’re expected to cut loose every now and then. I-and I’m sure many others like myself- claim that this is what a college student is known to do- make stupid decisions and brush it off in the morning. It is often heard “Oh, they’re always going to be running late. They’re in college” or “You shouldn’t put all your trust in a college student, they’ll just mess it up anyway.”

But isn’t it time someone broke the norm?

Just because something is typical or even expected for a certain age type does not mean that you should feel comfortable going along with it, no matter how minimal the choice may be. More often than not, you probably feel uncomfortable doing whatever it is you are doing. Not that what you are doing is wrong or looked down upon, but maybe because you know deep down in your heart it isn’t you. Skipping class every once in a while isn’t a sin and procrastinating on your homework to watch another episode of Netflix is fine every once in a while, but doing little things like that can form habits that can often make you feel worn out or out of place. There comes a time when you need to pick your bootstraps up and realize that you do not have to go along with the norms of life.

Really, there is no one pressuring you to be different other than the little voices inside your head that are tempting you to create acceptable excuses for slacking off. But when you already know who you are, what you stand for, and the expectations you have for yourself, why settle for anything less than your best? It is okay to mess up every now and then, but make choices because they feel right and feel like you. Own up to your mistakes, honor your mistakes, and make your tomorrow a brighter day than your yesterday. Because honestly, being you is way more interesting than anything anyone could imagine up for you.