Andrea [email protected]

I went into college resenting it. After countless hours spent taking standardized tests, applying for admission, housing and scholarships, and listening to my father tell me it’ll be the best four years of my life, I had about all I could take of the “college experience.” I was burnt out from thirteen years of public schooling, and depressed at the thought that the best years of my life would be so early on, and so full of studying. I just couldn’t believe that the rest of life after formal education would be downhill. The more I heard about the “college experience”, the more i hated it. Parties in the residence halls, football games, pep rallies, fraternities, sororities, and late night study sessions, I loathed the thought of it all. I was so negative by the time I began college that I subconsciously determined to make it the worst four years of my life. My first semester I lazily attended class and fled the campus as soon as I could escape. By a stroke of luck I managed to make a few friends, some strictly classmates, others extracurricular. Though some of my classes struck my intellectual intrest, I looked at them simply as core courses that wouldn’t help me in my future career. Though I was still undecided on what that career would be, I resented my classes for not helping me further it. I began to obsess about my undecided future. I finished my first semester passing all of my classes, but still resenting them. During winter break I realized I could not go on like this for four years. Instead of reevaluating my attitude, I obsessed about the future until it became a constant burden. My spring semester began, and the transition back to school was easier than I had anticipated. I saw familiar faces, and noticed that I was accustomed to the class atmosphere, but the burden I had created was still present. I was told all around about the ample time I had to decide on a major, but it never lessened my stress. I was still unsure if college was really meant for me, and I was sure that deciding on my future career was the only way to tell. On the fourth day of classes, after my final class was dismissed, I sat down on an outdoor bench to rearrange my backpack. I took a deep breath of the fresh air and let out a sigh. When I glanced up I was taken aback by the beautiful architecture and landscaping of my own university. All of my burdens seemed to life off of my shoulders. That day I spent over two hours walking around campus, soaking up the sunlight and beauty. I came to realize that this is what the college experience is all about. It isn’t any one type of experience, it’s simply experience. You can fail classes, change majors, make and lose friends, but the only real mistake you can make throughout college is not taking the time to experience. No one can tell you what that experience will be. It’s as individual as the student themself. No matter what your situation there is always a future, so take your time and enjoy your own college experience.