“College is the best time of your life” is something mentioned whenever you tell someone you’re in college. Older people will reminisce about their college years for as long as you let them and younger children will long to be in college until they graduate high school.
No matter what age, people are always wishing they’re in college. Then, once they get there, the amount of people that are actually happy with their college life seems pretty small.
Something that I have noticed is that body image is reason for many people’s discomfort in college. College students are constantly self-conscious about their bodies and will stop at nothing to achieve the perfect look for their Instagram posts.
But if college is supposed to be the best time of our lives, then why is everyone so unhappy? There are so many fun college experiences that people miss out on because they are too self-conscious to try.
There will never be another time in our lives when we can live with our best friends and grow as people. Refusing to participate in a tailgate because you’re afraid of being in any pictures is unnecessary. Watching your friends swim in the fountain while you sit off to the side is something you’ll regret after graduation.
Our bodies are capable of some amazing things such as climbing up Stamp Hill, sprinting to classes and of course, pulling all-nighters. Blaming our bodies for what they are not won’t help to achieve any of our post-college goals.
College is the chance to figure out who we are and grow so that we can be the best versions of ourselves in the real world. You cannot grow if you are not embracing all of yourself.
Learning to love ourselves both physically and emotionally is hard and it takes time to master. Self-love however, is the only thing we have that can always save us. College is the first place we can unapologetically be ourselves—take advantage of it.