As the first semester for college freshman is coming to a close, I bet that most of you are starting to reminisce on the life you used to lead. Its only human nature to be looking to the next best thing, where the grass is greener. In Middle School all we wanted was to be older, because being 13 was definitely not a walk in the park. High School used to seem like the end all, and we were all just dying to get there. Everyone talked about the so called freedom and responsibility that came with High School; I say so called because in High School you are under the watchful eyes of many. Let's be real. High School was such a step up from Middle School, or so we thought, until senior year came around and most of us were heading for the hills, and by the hills I mean college. After the colossal mass of stress that encompasses junior year, most long for senior year when the course load starts to lighten. Then we finally reach senior year, and all we want is to get into college to end the long and painful application process. Senior year comes and goes and it's graduation day, your former life is flashing before your eyes and time finally catches up to you. The rush that we were all in to get to this day now seems illogical, we wish that time could slow down. Once the summer comes, High School starts to seem more and more like your former life. People start to move forward and look to their futures, rather than be content in the here and now. Soon the here and now becomes college move in day, the day when we started our lives all over again. Bedrooms become dorm rooms. House parties became fraternity parties. The people you grew up with become High School friends, everything changes.
College is great, your friends are great, school is going well, there is nothing to complain about. College will potentially be one of the best and most rewarding times of our lives. We are at the beginning of our prime years, we have so much ahead of us and so much to look forward to. Notice the trend though? All this talk about what is to come and the future has been taking away from enjoying what we have infront of us. As much as I love college, I sometimes miss the life I used to leave. Would we trade in High School for College if we could do it all over again? Of course. Moving on and getting older is a natural inclination, it is part of growing up. However with all the transitions in the past year, many of us have probably forgotten how nice it was to live at home, TO BE CLEAN, to have good food, friends that have known you forever and family always around. Looking back, I know that I personally never realized how good I had it until I was already fully immersed in my next stage. My message to everyone who is moving on to the next chapter in their life, is to fully appreciate what you have going now; enjoy the ride and then look towards the destination.
