It’s normal for teenagers to dream about their lives after high school and what their college experience will be like. They’re constantly considering questions like is studying required to pass a class? Do Ramen Noodles make up the majority of a college student’s diet? And are the parties anything like “Project X” or the ones typically shown in movies? Yes, yes, and kind of. Any real college student can tell you that it’s hard and it takes a lot of time and effort, but it’s an amazing experience that lasts a lifetime.

While high school teachers preach about the difficulty of college exams and how important it is to study, they have no idea what really makes a student want to drop out. The hardest part about college is finding a place to park. It can take anywhere from five minutes to half an hour just to find a free space and then it’s usually all the way across campus when you do. And once you have your car parked, there’s no moving it and driving to your next class because then you just have to repeat the process all over again and you end up being late for the third time that week. Which is actually alright sometimes because there’s a good chance your professor is late too since they also didn’t want to come.

No one forces you to go to class either and some teachers don’t even have an attendance policy. This makes finding the motivation to go to those Monday morning 8 A.M. classes especially challenging. And when you do miss a class it seems like you’re never going to pass the semester because everything for the final exam was taught in that one class period that you missed. Oh, and a project was assigned and there was a paper due that you didn’t know about. Now you’re going to fail all because you decided to sleep in a bit and hit the snooze button a few times.

Laundry day is the worst. It takes up so much time that could be spent on napping or catching up on Netflix instead. It’s expensive too and eats up all of your extra money until you’re left digging through the console of your friend’s car trying to see if they have any spare change since you’ve spent all yours. Then there are the vending machines in the laundry room that taunt you with Snickers bars and salted pretzels while your jeans are in the dryer. But since you’re out of quarters and believe you’re too independent to ask your parents for money, all you can do is sadly stare at them and then make some Ramen noodles when you get back to your room.

The homework seems never ending and the amount of club meetings every week is

enough to drive a person insane, but going to college is one of the greatest things a person can do. You make friends that you never would’ve talked to back home and you get to take classes that you’re actually interested in and that will further your goals in life. You make connections and have so much fun that all the stress of your upcoming presentations and deadlines don’t even matter. College is amazing and so totally worth it.