I am sitting at the airport, trying to mentally prepare myself for this new semester of college and doing some self-reflecting. I just have three semesters left before I graduate and can still vividly recall my high school graduation like it was yesterday.
To say that time flies by really fast would be an understatement. There are some days when I want the time to go even faster and cannot for that ‘big girl’ life, but then other days it scares the hell out of me thinking that my teenage life is going to end. At the very beginning of this journey, I used to think that when I will be stepping out of college, I will get a classy job with a house on the beach and one of those cheesy lives from the 20s chick flick movies.
The reality, on the other hand, says that I may not be able to have that beach house but maybe a real version of those other two dreams can surely happen. But I still have a lot to learn, implement and experience before all that happens which I am not stressing about. Instead of saying that I am majoring in Journalism, I look at it more like I’m majoring in life.
At the end of the day, this is all what college has taught me. Not the grades or remarks on my assignments, but how to face reality and the actual world in which you have to survive. Here are 9 realities that college has taught better more than any books or quotations on realism.
- Always take your expectations down a notch
Everything in your life isn’t going to be pitch perfect or princess diaries. If you wish too high, your disappointments will be as low. Don’t stop dreaming or fantasizing but think of everything in a realistic scenario. It’s ok if your first roommate doesn’t become your best friend or you are not getting straight As like you used to get in school. Stay positive and keep up your game!
- A boy/girl is going to break your heart
At some point or other in your college career, you will face a crack a relationship which will make you think like the world is over. As social beings, we connect with people on an intimate emotional lever which sometimes ends up in a way we never wanted it to. It’s not necessary that the first person you meet is going to be perfect and the last. College teaches you to pick your head up and acknowledge the other fishes in the sea.
- Networking is everything
I have learned that it doesn’t matter which university you graduated from or where you went to college. Making great connections with people and businesses can take you much ahead than anything. Good skills without any networks land you nowhere. Hustle hard because it may not sound fair but is a harsh reality.
- Parents are everything you have and need in this life
Stop being a brat to your parents like you were in high school. When you move to college you’ll find yourself calling home every other minute and actually realize how much you love them. Everything they have done for you will become much clearer and you will appreciate them more than ever.
- College friendships are not forever
Everyone is changing and figuring out who they actually so don’t worry if you are not friends with every person you began college with. You’ll travel, meet around people, make new friends and realize how some are just temporary pieces in the jigsaw of your life.
- Never skip on a nap opportunity
Admit it, you are always tired when you are in college and this is the only time you will be able to skip a lecture or two to snooze off and take that much-needed nap. Go for it because, after graduation, there’s no room for Z’s in a 9 to 5 job.
- Your dreams and goals will change
You may have joined the double major course in filmmaking but that one minor of French that you took one semester may leave your completely baffled with your choice. It is going to happen and it is ok to change your plans a bit. Always remember, the ultimate goal is to be happy and content with what you do.
- Self-love is the love you need
Take yourself on a spa day, treat yourself with an impromptu dinner at your favorite restaurant, go swimming or anything that you love to do. Make things about yourself. Wine nights, bubble baths, late night ice cream runs, staying in for re-runs of pretty little liars and that splurge on makeup products, just make it. You’ll thank me later.
- For the last I am quoting Carolina Herrera “Life is hard. It is not too short, it is too long. But you have to learn how to live; you have to have a sense of humor.”
