After watching Perks of Being a Wallflower about 30 times, I came to the realization that many of its quotes not only apply to the ups and downs of high school but can apply to the daily life of a college student.
Here are just a few quotes from my favorite movie that describe college life:
1. Mr. Anderson: They say if you make one friend on your first day, you’re doing okay
Charlie: Thanks, sir but if my English teacher is the only friend I make today that would be sort of depressing.
The feelings of freshman year are universal. Whether you are starting your first day of high school or your first day of college, you are surrounded by an entirely new environment with new students. College brings this to an entirely new level because you are sometimes hours away from home with absolutely no friends. In high school, you may have a couple friends from elementary or middle school. As for Charlie, he was starting over in terms of friends, making this quote extremely relevant for college life. Hopefully we all made a friend other than our English professor on the first day of college.
2. Sam: Question, could the bathrooms here be any more disgusting?
Patrick: Yes, I believe they call it the men’s room.
Sam’s observation about the bathrooms at their high school football field could not be any more relevant to college. Living in a dorm building, most of us are faced with sharing a bathroom with ten or so other people. You could even be faced with a coed bathroom in college. And, if you are not the one cleaning the bathroom, you might be dealing with avoiding other people’s hair when you wash your hands or the occasional smelly bathroom. It might be wet floors or a shower that you are afraid to go into but college bathrooms can be pretty disgusting. And, if you use the men’s bathroom, it might be even worse.
3. Charlie: So, this is what fun looks like
College puts you in an entirely new element. The feeling that Charlie gets when he walks into his first high school party is similar to the feeling we get when we begin a new social life in college. We never experienced the freedom of living on our own and making our own decisions about where to go and when. There are hundreds of people living within a 5-minute walk of your own room. While college involves a lot more work and studying, there are endless possibilities for fun.
4. Sam: How do you feel Charlie?
Charlie: I just really want a milkshake
Of course, when Charlie says this to Sam, he is experiencing the effects of a weed brownie. But, it can apply to life in many different ways. Charlie’s zonked out feelings and cravings for just a simple milkshake are relevant to how I feel after spending six hours on a paper or studying for the better part of a weekend. There are days in college when we do not feel much of everything; we just want to indulge in the sugary goodness of a milkshake.
5. Charlie: Sorry I haven’t written for a while but I’m trying hard not to be a loser.
Throughout the movie, Charlie is writing letters describing his experiences in high school. Once he meets Patrick along with his group of friends and begins falling in love with Sam, he starts writing fewer letters. He is trying to fit in with their group by listening to their music, hanging out with them at lunch, and going to parties. Similarly, in college, we are always trying to fit in or keep up with different activities that will prevent us from being dubbed ‘a loser’ and we do not always have as much time to keep up withold habits.
6. Patrick: If you fail me, you get me next semester
For anyone that has taken an Intro course necessary for their semester, this quote or its sentiment might have crossed your mind once or twice. The professor could fail you, but then they just have to deal with you over the course of another semester.
7. Patrick: C-! I'm below average!
It goes without saying but college is harder than high school. A level students get their first failing grades in college. Above average students experience below average grades. There are two approaches to dealing with a bad grade. You could sit in your dorm room and cry it off. Or you could take on Patrick’s attitude when he gets a C- in his shop class. Yes, he could be upset that he was below average. Instead, he chooses to embrace it and relish in the reality that it is not the end of the world and, for the first time, he did not fail the course.
8. Patrick: Mary Elizabeth why are you trying to eat Christmas?
Finals for the fall semester are in December which is mere weeks before Christmas, or in the case of Ithaca College last year – the week of Christmas. Christmas is busy enough with buying presents, decorating and making Christmas cookies. With college, this adds finishing up work from the semester and studying for finals as well as putting together a couple final projects. It feels like college is truly trying to eat Christmas. It might be fun to be busy shopping and preparing for Christmas but preparing for finals is the complete opposite. Finals are an attempt from all colleges to eat Christmas just like Mary Elizabeth tried to do when questioning Charlie’s generosity.
9. Brad: No way, there's people out there.
Brad does not want to get out in front of a bunch of people to perform the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Many of us experience the same feeling when we are forced to present in front of a class. We can even feel this way when we are having a bad day and would rather stay inside our dorm than go outside amongst people.
10. Charlie: Dear friend, sorry I haven't written for a while but things are a total disaster.
This quote is an accurate description of how I felt toward the end of the semester. All the work piled up and all time went to going to class and doing work. Things were a total disaster and if I was Charlie, I would not have been able to keep up with writing letters.
11. Charlie: And in this moment, I swear we are infinite.
A compilation of Perks of Being a Wallflower quotes could not be completed without this quote. This quote not only applies to high school or college but moments throughout life. No matter where we are or what we are doing, we will always have moments that make us feel infinite – like we can do anything or be anything.
