There are many reasons to love college. Some people love it because of football, low tuition, or because they know that their degree is like a huge ticket to a decently paying job after college. There are so many reasons to love college, and after being bitter about being forced to take an extra semester, I have compiled a list of reasons why people like me should be happy to be in college even when we thought we deserved to graduate already…

1. Knowledge is power.

Sometimes, it is easy to forget that with every book we get smarter. With every book we think more deeply about a subject than we did before. This is because the brain is wired to go through an entire thought process, and books are written in a way to act like a train to travel step-by-step to orient our thoughts. When we write papers, we do it because it helps us think better. When we write up assignments, it is refining our thought process over a subject. Every class makes me feel like I am empowered to talk about a subject because I have a foundation to fall back upon. Right now, I am learning about science in Asian history, and it makes me feel more familiar and comfortable with a philosophy that I have never been exposed to before. Some “important” people have said in the past that fear of the unknown and indifference are the two evils of the world, and education smites both of those in their tracks.

2. Networking!

You can meet someone who is talented in almost every discipline on a college campus. Everyone comes to college to pursue some sort of talent to refine and market it. We have athletes and scholars that travel across the nation to be brought together on one campus, our campus. This is the place where diversity can be created and maintained. This is the place where students can build their professional network that will stay with them for the rest of their lives!

3. Enrichment.

Not only can a student take classes to broaden their world view, but they can also go to seminars, student groups, and other social gatherings to enrich their free time. You can go anywhere on campus and find something new to enrich your already growing perspective. Going to college is like going through a quick intellectual growth spurt that no other passage of time in your life can give you.

4. It is a challenge.

Sometimes, the only thing that make you better is a motivator to push you to grow beyond what you thought were your limits. That is my definition of a challenge. Every now and then, it can feel like professors push us too far. Yet when the semester is over, I cannot help but look back and smile because I know that they pushed to the point of growth in a direction I did not know I could grow in.

I am grateful for my college education because it continually shapes me into a better person. That is what diversity can do for us as a community and as a country.