After two years of college, I finally found the right way to describe it: a fantasy world. With constant pressures, rises of anxious feelings and thoughts of your future pouring into your mind constantly, there really is no better way to describe it. We literally live dependent and independent all at the same time — financially and emotionally, but only for four years.
Here are some ways in which college is totally abnormal compared to the way we have lived and will live:
1. Half Dependent, Half Independent
Sure, you live without your parents, and you may even have a job, but I'm sure you still go home on breaks. I'm sure they provide you with a roof to live under. College literally makes you half dependent and half independent. It's that weird point in life where home isn't really home, and your college town isn't either.
2. Caffeine Intake
Most people don't drink caffeine after lunchtime, but most people also don't drink coffee more than once a day. As a college student, you know what a heart palpitation is, and you're probably immune by now.
3. Time Management
Normally when someone has a task to complete, they start at a normal hour of the day. In college, it seems to be the norm to drink, binge-watch Netflix and eat all day and start homework at midnight. Why? I really couldn't tell you.
4. Alcohol Intake
Honestly, most college students' weekly alcohol intake could qualify them for a drinking issue. However, going out and drinking until 3 a.m. on a Wednesday because "shots are only $1" seems to be the norm in this fantasy world. Also, when is a beer worth $.10 appealing? During college. I'm also pretty sure "slapping the bag" of cheap, warm wine isn't done in most drinking establishments.
5. Decision Making
I think what can stress out so many college students is the fact that decisions you make at 18, 20, 21 and 22 can impact the life you live.
College is a weird place, a place full of self-discovery, new experiences and new people. It makes you feel like an independent, strong person when you really aren't even that independent yet at all. It's like the one end of your college town to the other seems like the greatest place on earth, and that everything is so, totally normal, even though it isn't. I can also guarantee you that everyone around you feels the same way.
These years are a wild, confusing ride, and I suggest you hold on tight. Normal is overrated anyway.