Pop culture often romanticizes university life. Movies, TV shows, social media, and even stories from older siblings can create this picture of what life after high school should look like. The expectation is that you’ll immediately find your people and everything will fall into place, but that isn’t always the case.
I remember graduating high school with an ultra-specific idea of how my next four years would play out. I had clear expectations for who I’d become and where I would end up after graduation. But if I learned anything, it’s that life rarely unfolds exactly as planned. Plans change, and sometimes the path you thought you were supposed to take leads you somewhere completely different. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Some of the best experiences can come from moments that weren’t part of the original plan.Â
When you step into unfamiliar territory, you develop a kind of resilience that comfort alone can’t provide. It’s easy to convince yourself that you’ll feel ready one day, but in my experience, it works the other way around. You have to take the leap first, and only then do you realize you were capable of facing what scared you in the first place.Â
If I could go back and give my eighteen-year-old self one piece of advice, I’d tell myself to get comfortable with the uncomfortable and stay open to change, especially when it comes in unexpected ways. More often than not, we become disappointed with what could have been instead of appreciating what is. When you’re young, you see the world through rose-coloured glasses, and with that comes a sense of fearlessness. I think the college experience is so romanticized because twenty-year-olds have that idealist perspective that older generations look back on with such fondness, and maybe even a bit of envy.Â
It’s kind of like a superpower: having your whole life ahead of you and the ability to steer it in any direction. This is your reminder to embrace that fearlessness. What better time to make mistakes than when you have an entire educational support system designed to help you learn from them?
I think everything happens for a reason, and the more you loosen the reins and let go of the need to control every outcome, the more you actually allow yourself to experience life. You become more open to the opportunities that come your way and the experiences you didn’t plan. Maybe the goal isn’t to have everything figured out by the time you graduate, but to appreciate where you are while you’re there.Â
If your college experience doesn’t look exactly how you imagined, that’s okay. There is no one “right” way to experience life, and your journey doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.