College is a time of growth. For many, it’s their first taste of freedom and independence. But what I don’t believe is acknowledged enough about these four years is that it is also a time of conformity and lost passions. College offers variety, yet it also induces likeness.
I came to the University of Kansas with the notion that my desires and passions were my own and fixed. As I passed through my freshman year and am now finishing my third semester, I have taken a reevaluation of myself. Do I still feel passionate about the same things? Do I practice what I love?
These questions are difficult to answer. Can one say that they are passionate about something if it no longer holds a position in their life? For example, music has always been a large part of my life. I love to sing; it has always been one of the biggest stress-relievers and forms of self expression. Since I have entered an environment where I am never alone, however, music is only ever something I listen to and never something I practice. Do I still feel passionate about music if I have put it on the backburner? And how could I put something on the backburner that I claim to love so much? It is as if college limits your passions to the things everyone else partakes in, because doing so causes no disruption to others.
Even the education aspect diminishes interests; a degree encourages a focus on one passion only. “Don’t spend your time on things that will not help you later in life. Stay focused.” But what if, in focusing solely on your degree, you lose your passion for other things? You shouldn’t have to be an art major to spend time creating art in college. You don’t have to be a journalism major to spend time writing.
Multiple passions encourage complexity and humans should be complex. You shouldn’t have to get a degree in something in order for it to be a prevalent part of your life.
I guess what I’m saying is reflect on your own life in college. What’s missing from it? What passions have you neglected in the name of education or conformity?
Don’t limit yourself. Practice ALL the things you love, and use college as a time to expand your passions rather than refining them.
