5 THINGS COLLEGE LIFE
TAUGHT ME – OUTSIDE THE CLASS
1. You can reinvent yourself.
I'll be the first to admit
that I hated high school with a passion. People always told me,
“you'll miss it when you graduate and leave”. I didn't and I
still don't because I was honestly miserable. College was my way to
change the educational and social experience that I had in high
school. I chose to attend a college where none of my friends were
going and only a few people from my graduating class were attending.
I was no longer forced to play the part of the hyper, eccentric, and
annoying girl that I was forced to be in high school because that's
what was expected of me.
Instead I became the
introvert that I really wanted to be. I enjoyed the time to myself
and unlike a lot of people I didn't party in college (I went to a
total of less than 5 parties in 5 years). I started to care more
about my appearance and how I acted to my situations. Plus I started
to actually like sports and studied things that no one expected me
to.
2. Your beliefs can change.
This is the one that
shocked me the most. I come from a conservative Christian family.
Both sets of my grandparents and a bunch of my aunts & uncles go
to the same church. They are all Republican to the extreme in their
beliefs. I was a church going girl, I even went to a nationwide
conference when I was fifteen for my church denomination. When I got
to college I thought that I would keep my way of thinking. Then I
started meeting people and hearing there stories. Halfway through my
Sophomore year I realized that I was no longer into faith, I just
didn't believe anymore and I was definitely a democrat.
Now I'm not saying that
going to college will make you agnostic like me or change your
political views. For some of my friends college made them become even
more dedicated to their religion which is awesome! I had one friend
that wasn't extremely religious convert to Islam (not the extremist
type we see in the news). I'm just saying that it's perfectly okay if
your beliefs change and/or grow.
3. Eating alone isn't always
a bad thing.
I had trouble with this
one a lot my first couple years. I refused to go to the cafeteria
alone, I just couldn't do it. I didn't want to be seen as the “loser
eating alone”. My third year there I suddenly realized you know
what I'm not a loser if I eat alone, plus I'll save a lot of money on
not eating fast food or ramen.
The fact of the matter is
eating alone can be relaxing because you can focus on other things
like studying or even just the fun of people watching. When you get
older suddenly the things that seemed so important the image you are
portraying seem trivial and you wonder why you ever worried about
them. My last year of college I basically ate every breakfast by
myself and enjoyed the time alone.
4. If you get to know people
you normally wouldn't think to be friends with you'll grow a lot more
as a person.
The first group of friends
I ever made were the exact opposite of me. These were my closest
friends my first two years of college. I hung out with the kids who
played video games whenever they weren't in class and listened to
heavy metal music. I can't play a video game to save my life and
heavy metal gives me headaches. However, spending so much time with
people so different from myself was eye opening. These were people in
high school I never would have associated with I would have actually
been slightly afraid of them. However, I learned that just because we
have different interest doesn't mean we don't have things in common.
5. It's okay to feel
overwhelmed.
I feel like no one ever
talked about this with me before my transition to college. College is
a huge difference from high school. You often go in without your
group of lifelong friends and you're suddenly being bombarded with
school, extracurricular, and a social life. You're pushed out of your
comfort zone and it can be overwhelming. It's okay to feel that way
and it's okay to step back and just take a day for yourself (I
suggest a Saturday or Sunday). For me I liked to go for walks
sometimes alone (during the day because I'm a fairly tiny female and
as safe as I felt on campus I still didn't take chances) or with a
friend or two. Getting out and just taking the time to relax and not
worry about what test was coming up or the event coming up for my RSO
(Registered Student Organization) was a lot of help for my mental
health in college.
On that note if you are
overwhelmed and you aren't coping well it's okay to ask for help. My
school had a free counseling center and I still wish that I had
gathered the courage (and pushed back my anxiety) and went to get
help. My anxiety my senior year was extremely bad, to the point that
I considered suicide. I managed to make my way through it but I
didn't have to suffer the way I did. I just wish someone had told me,
it's okay to seek help, you need to worry about you.
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