I often quip that I'm eagerly counting down the days until graduation.

After my freshman year of college, I jokingly celebrated the .25 way mark of my college degree. I'm also a proud fan of college misery memes and I keep a whole folder of them in the camera roll of my phone (it's quite a collection). To the casual observer it seems like I hate attending college with every fiber of being.

That actually couldn't be farther from the truth.

I love college.

I LOVE college!

Wow, I don't say that often. Feels weird to type.

To be clear, I don't always consciously feel this way. Nine days out of ten I'm rushing around campus, running on five cups of coffee and a few hours of sleep. While I'm in the throes of being a college student, it's hard to step outside of myself and appreciate my situation.

But I'm also extremely aware of the fact that it's easy for me to focus on the negatives of college while completely ignoring all of the factors that bring me joy.

I'm so blessed to be at a point in my life where my full-time job is to learn. I go to classes that I chose myself, gain knowledge, and learn how to apply that knowledge to real life. I walk around on a campus full of other students that value their education and are always willing to discuss what they're learning in their classes. I'm able to see an immediate effect of my hard work (good grades, yay!).

Yeah, college is fun. Now a job? I'm not so excited.

I have a part-time job right now but it's not very high stakes; I answer a telephone, update a website, greet office visitors, etc. Enjoyable, but nothing too intense.

Once I have a full-time career, I'll be expected to produce without error. In college, if I make a mistake on my homework the cost is a lower grade. In some post-college careers, an error can be the difference between life and death.

I feel like my full-time job will be many times more stressful than college currently is. College is a role-play for me while post-college life is the real thing, a situation I'm thrust into while I'm barely out of a cap and gown. It's terrifying and I know it's scary to a lot of other college students, too.

Even though I'm constantly thinking about that black hole I'm going to fall into after I receive my degree, it's in the very back of my mind. Right now, I'm more focused on the awesome ideas I'm exploring in my classes and how many interesting food combinations I can make out of dining hall ingredients. I'm going to enjoy college while I still can.

(even when I have three midterms in one week).