College is more than just getting a degree. Sure, it's the main goal for people attending a University, but there is so much more that comes out of it. It's a personal journey in itself and shouldn't be wasted.

College teaches you who is important.

When venturing off to college, most of us leave a whole town behind. Our best friends go to different colleges and start lives apart from us. This teaches us how to maintain friendships that we want to keep and which ones really didn't have the legs for the long haul. It's great if everyone can stay in touch while in college, but sometimes life gets so busy that it's hard to keep up with everyone. We also finally realize how important family is. Going off to college is so exciting because we get the first real taste of freedom. Away from our parents, teachers, and the rules. After a while we realize how important our parents are to us. We realize how much we still need them and how much they mean to us.

College shows us who we are as a person.

We have lots of struggles in college. Whether it be with class, friends, relationships, or just managing everything together. We realize who we are when we handle them. Some get over emotional, some get angry, some shutdown. We learn who we are and how we need to better ourselves to handle certain situations. It's the first test for our life and future careers.

College teaches us how important alone time is.

College is a nonstop interaction with people. Whether you're a freshman and sharing an entire room with someone, or an upperclassman with a few roommates in an apartment, we are always around someone. We go to class with people. We go to work with people. We go to dinner with people. We go out with people. We realize how important a night alone is when we rarely have time to sit and reflect on ourselves.

College teaches us self-love.

If there's anything college teaches us, it's that we have to love ourselves before anything will fall into place. We have to be confident in ourselves to succeed in class and the relationships that we make. We come to college unsure of ourselves, but that changes pretty fast. We can finally be who we want to be without needing everyone's approval beforehand. When we do this, we meet so many people who share the same morals and views as us and we meet the people who will be lifelong friends. It makes us realize that if we don't like someone, we don't have to be around them. It's just that simple. That's what's great about college, we choose our own path.

College is such a special time in our lives, so live it up. Don't forget that it's more than an educational journey, it's the gateway to the rest of our life. The friendships we make and the confidence we build within ourselves will mold the future ahead of us.