While I was in high school and occasionally while in middle school, I constantly heard the phrase "you will not be able to do that in college." This pertained to things both inside and outside of the classroom and a lot of them always seemed realistic. Whether the teachers were trying to over prepare us or just scare us for college I'm not sure, but I have found that a lot of what they told us we would not be able to do is untrue. Below are some of the biggest things that I got excited over once I got to college, simply because they were different from high school.
1. You can wear whatever the hell you want to wear and aren't considered a "distraction" to the opposite gender.
Because quite frankly, nobody cares a single bit about what you are wearing in college. You could go to class in a bathing suit or a cow onesie and nobody would say a single thing. The guys don't look at you and think to themselves "wow I want to bang her" just because you are wearing a tank top.
2. You can take Tylenol/iBuprofen/Advil or whatever you need when you have a headache or cramps.
Nobody, not even teachers (shocker I know), assume you are doing anything other than what you are doing. They don't automatically jump to the conclusion that you are doing drugs in the middle of the class. In fact most of the time they don't even notice.
3. You are able to do test corrections and get half of the original points back.
Granted this is University/teacher/class dependent, but two out of my five classes my first semester of college have allowed test corrections on not only tests, but quizzes and homework. This was one of the main highlights that teachers in both middle school and high school said we would not be allowed to do in college.
4. You actually have time to write that six page paper that you were given two nights to do in high school!!!!
All of my teacher's favorite excuse for giving us an unnecessary amount of homework that was due in a ridiculous time period was "I'm just preparing you for college." While the amount of work we have to do may be slightly accurate, we are given time to do it. Most quizzes are online and are due a week after they are assigned, and most papers you are told about long before they are even assigned.
5. Hall passes are not a thing.
Good news, you can now go to the bathroom or get water without having to disrupt the class by asking, taking a pass, or being worried about using up the three times you are allotted to go per semester!
6. You can leave when tests are over without being a "huge distraction".
No more sitting around doing nothing for an hour waiting for that one person who takes forever to finish the test. You are now free to leave as soon as you are done.
7. You don't have to wake up before the sun rises and you still have time to do everything in your day!
Honestly one of the best things about college is being able to pick your classes and determine what time you want to have them at. Having to wake up at 5:45 in high school was the most awful thing ever, so I imagine even classes at eight in the morning sound like the best thing in the world to high school students.
8. You have more than 20 minutes to stand in line for food and eat lunch before having to go back to class.
This is dependent on how you arrange your schedule, but most college students typically leave an hour in between their classes around noon to go eat lunch. While the lines sometimes get long, you have virtually as much time as you need to eat.
9. You don't have to stare at the same "fake cheerful" posters on the classroom walls every day.
This isn't something big, but it definitely is a highlight about college.
10. You can take notes on your laptop.
This is another professor dependent thing, but in high school technology was forbidden for the most part, even after schools became "technology friendly". While it depends on the person and how easily they get distracted, that is an option in a lot of your classes.
11. You can go all out during football games.
I don't remember why masks/costumes were banned at games at my high school, but in college people get really excited over football games. Full on face paint, costumes and too much glitter are among the many things you are likely to see at college football games.
So hang in there high school students, because I promise it gets a lot better.
