Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again.
– Eleanor Roosevelt
The concept of the ‘best four years’ of your life has always fascinated me. A few decades ago, it was high school. The media represented these years as a pivotal moment in young adulthood. From the 1955 film “Rebel Without a Cause” to “Grease” and “American Grafitti” in the late 70s, high school was heavily romanticized as ‘the best four years of your lives.’ Film in the 80’s depicted these four years as an exciting coming-of-age in films like “Pretty in Pink,” “The Breakfast Club,” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
Throughout the 90s, early 2000s, and 2010s, young adults grew to view the high school environment as materialistic and overly reliant on social hierarchies—observed in films like “Mean Girls” (2004) and “The Duff” (2015).
At this point in time, high school became an awkward transition phase. Rather than entering adulthood post-high school graduation, the stepping-off point became a marker for the end of childhood. Then comes the four-year limbo stage of “am I or am I not an adult right now?” also known as the years of college.
The college experience became the new and improved “best four years of your life.” Living in a dorm with a roommate, eating at the dining hall, studying at the library with friends, and even the party scene became the “good ol’ days” that every prospective college student should be thrilled for.
What does this mean for future generations?
Clearly, this societal shift indicates an upward trend. Who knows? Maybe in ten or twenty years, we, as Generation Z, will tell our children that graduate school or adulthood or parenthood is the era they should look forward to the most, and with each generation, the era will shift later and later into life. Already, many are pointing to a person’s twenties or thirties as an era to be savored like no other, with the mindset that one will be their most attractive, happy, and carefree in those decades of their lives.
On one hand, the whole concept of “the best four years” moving into later time periods can be viewed in a positive light. In a way, it decreases the pressure to have the ultimate and fulfilling college (and previously, high school) experience. The idea that any specific period in life will be one’s “best” comes with the implication that the years that follow only go downhill. This idea of peaking can be dangerous, if you peak too early, what more is there to look forward to? In a sense, one can find solace in knowing they have more time to be truly living before they simply must live. However, on the other hand, the whole concept of “the best four years” is subjective and has low generalizability. What happens if you go to college and your four years there are awful? What happens if they end up being good, but not amazing?
My Admittedly Limited college experience
As a freshman in college, I am still getting used to being here. I enjoy all of the quintessential aspects of college life and I have a routine down. I am, for all intents and purposes, happy. Simultaneously, however, I cannot help but view college and my freshman year, in particular, as yet another transition phase. Instinctively, I assume that the year after this one will be the year that I start to feel more at home on campus. I have already cultivated a few friendships that I believe will last and some that I do not have as much hope for. That being said, I also underwent a slew of personal experiences that shaped my mentality about college as a whole, both positive and negative. Coming to college for me meant leaving people and being left by others. At the very start of my college experience, I couldn’t help but question, “Is this what the start of the supposed best four years of my life is supposed to feel like? Why am I not as excited as everyone thinks I should be?”
Since entering college, I have gone through several highs and lows. It’s October and believe it or not, I already had both friendship and relationship drama, academic successes and struggles, and internal conflicts. I know that it will not always feel this tumultuous or intense. I know that being at college will allow me to broaden my horizons and grow into a more well-rounded person. I know I will create some amazing memories here and I know that freshman year is too early to judge, but that is not the point. The point is that some people do not make the best memories of their lives in college and that is perfectly fine. I have come to realize and accept that if as a senior in college, I look back and realize these were not my best four years, that is okay.
If you think about it, any phase in your life can be viewed as a transition. Infancy is a transition to childhood, as childhood is a transition to adolescence, as adolescence is to adulthood, as adulthood is to elderly life, and then, eventually, comes death. The trick is to remember that each phase has its pros and cons and more importantly, not a single person’s life is comparable to another’s. Life is not something that can be measured or predicted. Ask anyone what their favorite era of their life was. Really, try it. One person will recall their childhood, another will cite parenthood, and of course, there are many who truly do look back at high school or college with that level of fondness.
so, Myth or fact?
You heard it here first: the “best four years” are, in fact, a myth. By all means, enjoy your college experience. Savor every moment. Relish in your youth. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “at present, you are both the youngest and oldest that you have ever been.” Whether or not you have the time of your life at college, remind yourself that with each new transition comes new opportunities for joy, growth, and contentment. Start viewing your life not as a mountain that you ascend in your youth and descend as you age, but as a hill with little dips here and there that only goes higher and higher.