Growing up, I have always been taught that being selfish was a bad thing. A part of human nature is that you should try to avoid or suppress your feelings. With that being said, through my college experiences thus far, I have learned that being selfish isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Let me explain.

In college, you have to be your own advocate; That's one of the very first things I learned. By this, I mean no one is holding your hand and you really have to be able to stand your own ground and make good decisions for yourself. As part of being your own advocate, you end up putting yourself first, and it's actually not a bad thing. It really is up to each individual student to learn, make good grades, and take care of themselves, so that means you have to put yourself first.

Since I have started attending college, I have also put much more emphasis on myself over others. This just seemed to happen without me realizing it because I wasn't doing it on purpose. I just think the whole atmosphere of college forces students to be a little selfish.

I mention this because every professor expects all of their students to do their own work, do it well, and turn it on time. No professor has ever told me to remind others of the assignments that are due or to help another student with a problem. It's up to the individual student to be proactive and get their own work done.

This expectation of students to be in charge of themselves and their work is also reflected outside of school in the professional work environment, so being a little selfish is actually a useful skill to have for now and the future.

Going along with being a little selfish, I have also learned you really have to do what is best for you, even if it might upset someone else. Some examples are: moving into a different dorm, dropping a class, stop talking to certain people, and so forth.

Being in college has really shown me that being a little selfish is good and is needed in some situations. Because at the end of the day, how well a student performs in college is completely up to them, and in order to succeed, sometimes you have to put yourself first.