It's no secret that college is a time for learning curves. First of all, there's the obvious learning done in classrooms. Then there are all the things the (very) young adults are learning about life along the way. Everyone has different experiences. Some are common and some are unique. I know I can say I'm nothing like the person I was on move-in day of freshman year. I'm in my senior year now, and college has been one heck of a roller coaster.
1. Life doesn't stop.
This is probably the biggest thing college taught me. In high school, there were so few responsibilities. I could worry about sports, attend school, and have fun, and everything was going to be just fine. Now, I'm paying my bills and my school load is bigger than it ever was in high school. I found out real quick that when you have a job and a bunch of college classes, with bills to pay, you don't get to have a lazy Sunday just because you want to. In fact, it's become pretty hard for me to be lazy on Sundays at all, because laziness brings about anxiety for how to make up for the lost time.
2. Food is a blessing.
I have always loved food. I'm sure many of my present and past friends would tell you that. But oh boy is my love for food stronger than ever. I tend to buy ramen, macaroni and cheese, and ground beef to make up all of my meals. When I have extra money, I get cereal, bananas, and vegetables too. Both my health and my enjoyment from food depend so strongly on what I can afford at any given time. A solid home-cooked meal anymore brings about the same excitement that Thanksgiving did when I was a child. And Thanksgiving now brings me through-the-roof joy, like a little kid on Christmas morning.
3. A friend isn't what I thought it was in high school.
On graduation day, I was so sad thinking about all of the friends I was leaving behind. I couldn't figure out for the life of me how I would move to a different city and just be OK with the fact I didn't get to see all of them anymore. But, life happened. I made new friends. All the adults were right. You really do just move on. Freshman year of college, friends were made largely by proximity, and leaving freshman year life in the dorms was a lot like leaving high school. Now that I've been living off-campus for a while, I realize that there is a core of only a few people who I really feel the need to maintain strong relationships with. I would say at least 90 percent of the friends I've ever had, I don't talk to anymore, and I'm OK with that. It makes the once-every-year-or-five meetings all the more valuable anyway.
4. Work can suck but college classes suck more.
This one is probably more unique to me than some of the others. As for me, though, school anymore is the most difficult thing I have to do. I would rather work another full-time summer in a glass factory than spend another summer taking classes. I would rather deliver food full time than deliver a few hours a week and go to school. College makes you take general education requirements that will never matter, and you have to devote a lot of time and money to do it. I'm so thankful for the opportunity I have to earn two degrees, but college has sucked the life out of me more than any other aspect of life ever has.
5. Walking places is OK.
I remember growing up, the most physical exertion I was willing to give to travel five blocks was riding my bike. Once I had a car, I would drive that five blocks whenever I could. Now I walk like two miles a day when you take into consideration my walk into campus, all the walking around, and my walk home from campus. By this point, if something is within five blocks of me it's a short walk. The distances to walk back home have all suddenly become much shorter.
6. It's never about impressing people.
High school is a pretty normal time for anyone to feel the need to impress people. There are popularity contests, heated sports practices, and often the feeling of the need to impress your parents or your community. Even in the search for a college and a major, it is all too common for a kid to want to do what he/she thinks the people around them want them to do. It was tough for me to not give into that. People generally expected me to become a doctor or an actuary. I chose journalism at the University of Iowa. I'm so happy I made that decision. The people who looked flabbergasted when I told them what I wanted to do aren't here anymore. They are no longer my teachers. They are no longer even in my life at all. The decisions I made then and the decisions I make now affect me more than anyone, and I'm so glad I have stayed true to myself throughout.
7. Be a good person.
Growing up in a small town has a large list for both benefits and drawbacks. In so many ways, I am thankful for the way I grew up and where I grew up. One of the ways a small town did not benefit me, however, was in the lack of diversity. I was surrounded by the same people my whole life. While that made for a lot of great experiences, it didn't allow me to expand my knowledge about people. It was so easy to assume that someone on the news was wrong or was an idiot, because the only things I ever got to learn about people who weren't from my hometown came from media sources. I learned about people through an unfortunate frame. In my time at college, I have met people of so many skin colors, nationalities, sexualities, and backgrounds. I look back on the high school version of myself and can't believe I ever thought so poorly of particular groups of people. I've been exposed to so much now, and the number on thing I have learned and that I hope everyone can learn is that everyone is human. Stereotypes are never good assumptions for an individual. I don't know what someone is like until I get to know them. People are so much more often good than they are bad, regardless of the way they look or identify. I know how important it is to assume kindness is the way to go. It's not OK to oppress people. It's not OK to be so condescending. We are all humans first, and I am so glad I have learned that.
