As your senior year of high school comes to an end, all people seem to be talking about is college. It makes sense, considering that 12 years of education lead up to this mystical college experience that is supposed to completely change your life. High schoolers everywhere fantasize about living away from their parents, making new friends, and ultimately starting a new life. It’s like summer camp with a little responsibility thrown in.
It’s hard to really know what to expect, but from what we see in movies and older friends’ Instagrams, college seems like the best time of your life. The most negative post from the average college student is a picture of a Starbucks cup with a caption about the stress of finals week. Sometimes, it’s a picture of their hometown expressing how much they can’t wait to be home. But, as with most social media profiles, you can only see the surface.
Yes, freshman year of college can be full of fun, fulfilling moments, but no one tells you about the hard parts. Moving from high school to college isn’t a gradual transition, and it isn’t effortless. No university can magically fix anyone, and emotional baggage won’t disappear because you moved away from your hometown. But, when your expectations of college don’t align with your reality, don’t worry.
The perfect college experience does not exist. Your decisions, relationships, emotions and experiences will all impact who you are, and that’s what college is really about. It’s easy to think you’re doing something wrong if you’re not living how you expected to, but it’s important to do what’s right for you. It’s okay if you don’t make as many friends as you wanted to. It’s okay if you miss home, old friends and exes included. Even if you feel like you have an existential crisis every week, you are doing just fine. No matter how your experience goes, you will learn and grow.