Ahh, back-to-college season. Target is packed with Room Essentials-brand bath towels and furniture, U-Hauls suddenly appear all over town in swarms and college freshmen arrive on campus bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to take on the world.
Not so fast, y'all.
True, the move to college is an incredibly exciting milestone in a young adult's life. For many, it's the first time you've been on your own and you're dusting off your wings, ready to spread them. And your first taste of independence isn't to be discounted! Fill out that planner, buy those cute bedspreads, go to the fun events your school puts on, eat all the free pizza you can--after all, free food is the best food.
You're going to feel stressed, burnt out and mildly insane by the time midterms roll around--oh, just wait until finals--but hear me when I say this: Enjoy the stress that comes along with your studies.
You heard me right. Enjoy the stress! Why? Because believe me, once you're out in "the real world" and working, going to graduate school, raising a family--whatever you're doing, you're going to look back on your college time and realize how minute some of your stressors were.
As a student, there's a multitude of resources available right at your fingertips. Student discounts, counseling services, health services, study halls, extracurriculars, even academic advisers who will literally help you plan out your entire college career.
Isn't it funny how the narrative suddenly changes once you've walked across the stage and into the real world? Too bad there aren't exactly adulting advisers!
Adulting isn't all bad, but it's also not all fun and games. Once you're on your own it's up to you to pay your bills, get a job to help pay your bills and figure out this crazy thing called life. Everyone has resources, but let me tell you, college kids have some of the best.
One day you're in the world of constantly being handed free promotional T-shirts, sweating over a term paper in the library and rolling into class with sweats and a smoothie. The next, you're suddenly given a piece of paper that you hope will help officially certify you as an adult--yet, you're also probably still standing in an aisle of the grocery store on the phone with your mom, asking her what ingredients you need to cook your favorite childhood meal.
I know you're in a hurry to grow up, finish school and start the first day of the rest of your life. But take it from me: Slow down and enjoy the ride! Being an adult is fun, but so is being right at the stage in life you're at now. The bills, job searches, new life skills and more will come along in their due time. For now, make your studies your job and soak up every moment as a student.
And who knows? A few years from now, you might be giving a new college freshman the same advice!
