Will I consider college the best four years of my life?
I saw a TikTok the other day where a woman spoke about how it’s okay if college was/is not the best four years of your life. The comment section was flooded with other users thanking her for reassuring them of the experience they had and/or telling their own stories and giving advice to others. This interaction made me sit back and ask myself the question:” Will I consider college the best four years of my life?”, and my answer was “No”.
But this made me think about how when most people say college should be the best four years of your life, it’s because of the friend groups you’re supposed to make, the partying you’re supposed to do, and in general the newfound freedom that comes with being away from home, which I get, especially for people who’ve never experienced it before. But if we’re measuring the quality of the years of our lives based on fun, then I’d easily say high school was my best four years thus far. The friends, the drama, the partying, and the freedom were all things I’d experienced to their full extent before coming to college. So yes while college has been fun, it doesn’t beat the fun I had in high school which is why I originally answered the question with a no. But I think that’s the problem. Most people are judging the quality of their college experience on fun, and that’s truthfully not the reality of college. Yes, it should have fun moments, but it’s also meant to be some of the most challenging, eye-opening, vulnerable, and important moments of your life.
When I think back on my college experience thus far, it will be considered the best four years of my life not because of the fun I had, but because of the things I experienced. I experienced studying abroad in Spain and living with a host family, I’ve experienced traveling to Israel and swimming in the Red Sea, I’ve experienced internships and working with politicians and entrepreneurs, I’ve experienced pulling all-nighters and surviving off of caffeine, I’ve experienced having my first romantic relationship (happy two years to us <3), I’ve experienced having meltdowns because I’m stressed or exhausted, I’ve experienced losing friends and feeling alone, I’ve experienced having roommates, I’ve experienced having my own apartment, I’ve experienced imposter syndrome and anxiety, I’ve experienced financial struggles, and I’ve experienced the realities of life. So no college has not always been fun, but it has always been an experience. With one more year left, I want nothing more than to continue experiencing the mostly good and sometimes bad that comes with being in college, and appreciating all of it.
I don’t know if any of what I said makes sense, but if it does, I’d love to hear how you plan to measure the quality of your college experience in a way that makes these four+ years “the best”.
Hi Haley! As a graduating senior, I have been reflecting a lot on the past four years and wondering how I will think about college when I think back on it. I recently read a “letter to my future self” I wrote only 5 days into my time at Penn State and I said that I hope future me has something good to say about how things turned out. I am so happy to say that there are many great memories and experiences that I’d love to share with 18 year-old Julia! But, like you said, college has also been full of challenges and struggle. I want to keep moving forward with the goal of wanting future me to have something great to say about their life to past me.
Haley, thank you for sharing this. As this year wraps up and I see so many of my senior friends leaving I have begun to wonder how I think I will feel when it is my time to go. A lot of unforeseen circumstances fell upon me this past semester and have left me to wonder if my approach to college is as successful as I anticipated it to be. But, through and through when I think about it, I cannot help but be in awe of how much Penn State and the communities here have helped me grow, mature, and change – for the better. The pressure of “fun” in college is not one I think I have lived up to all the time, but I have had fun challenging myself and getting out of my comfort zone in a way I can only do here. Thank you for talking about this topic and shedding light on all the reasons college can be the best four years of your life without necessarily being the most fun years.