Mid-semester, it is easy to forget why exactly you’re busting your butt and running on four hours of sleep. Believe me, these days I swear that I have more coffee in my veins than blood. However, lately I have been reflecting a lot on the ultimate purpose of being a college student. It is exhausting and stressful, but it can be incredibly rewarding too. As students, we are given the opportunity to learn from the best of the best. By entering that lecture hall, we are stepping up to the plate and taking a swing. Sure, there are strikes out. But, in the end, we have to remember why we are really here.
College is meant to be a time of growth. It isn’t supposed to be easy, if it were, everyone would do it! It may be hard, but you have to apply yourself to your studies and remaining resilient, even when that one professor hates everything you do. It is easy to get caught up in assignments and schedules and forget why you wanted to attend college in the first place.
This semester has been especially difficult for me. There has been more homework than I ever imagined, and more setbacks than I could have predicted. But that is the point. It is all about embracing the struggle and striving to become a better version of myself.
Professors are those who have been deemed the best in their field. They know a thing or two about a thing or two! While it is easy to zone out during class and spend the hour and fifteen-minute period pinning pictures of puppies, those lectures are happening for a reason! You are sitting in a class room, surrounded by people your age who want the same things you do, listening to an expert share their knowledge. This is a big deal. It is easy to complain on twitter, and retweet the funny memes about struggling through your reading assignment, but this doesn’t get the job done.
College is hard, and it won’t be getting easier anytime soon. However, a different perspective can help. Consider this, you are only here for a short time, why not learn anything and everything you can? After all, you’re paying for it!
So yes, the end of the semester is near. And yes, I too am guilty of online shopping instead of listening to my history professor discuss the New Deal. This dude has a P.h.D! What am I doing? I need to be listening, absorbing and taking advantage of my situation. A college education is a big deal, and it should not be taken for granted.
Now go hit the books!