Four years ago, I started my journey as a college student at Texas State University, and in exactly one month from now, I will be walking across the stage. I feel many emotions right now, including excitement, sadness, relief, fear, and uncertainty. Yet, these feelings aren’t unfamiliar to me. I can recall riding the waves of these emotions at the start of freshman year of college. As a first-generation student, I didn’t have many familial role models of someone who had completed the four-year college experience, so I felt like I was diving into uncharted waters.Â
Now that I am a senior, I want my younger self to hear some words of wisdom that could’ve helped her on this journey…
It’s Not A RaceÂ
As a first-generation student, I felt the pressure to succeed. I wanted to make all A’s, never skip classes, join as many clubs and groups as I could, have a job, and meet as many new people as I could. All these are great things to do in college, but time is everything. Classes, readings, and assignments were a lot to handle, so adding extra duties on top of that can feel like time is limited. As young adults living in hustle culture, we often think the more work we do, the more worthy we are, but this mindset can break us down. I am very proud of my freshman year for having ambitious goals and wanting to achieve everything.Â
On the other hand, I would tell her to listen to her body, do what feels right, and it’s okay to take things slow. In the early years of college, I tried to keep up with anything and anyone, even if my plate was too full. But as time went on, the plate got heavy and broke down. Stress was something I had a hard time managing, and soon enough, my body paid the price. No matter how healthy I ate and how much I exercised, the signs of my body telling me to relax were still there.Â
To my younger college self: Take breaks and slow down.Â
Learn and GrowÂ
Shifting from high school to college was a big transition. I was walking into a world of adulthood, new people, and new standards. I’m a naturally shy, so meeting new people felt very uncomfortable. Yet, no matter how uncomfortable it feels, I want to tell myself to go for it. Meeting new people can open many great doors. But most importantly, I would tell her to stop worrying about what other people think. When I was younger, I had spent too much time worrying about what others thought or said, but it was later in my college years that I woke up and stopped caring about how others viewed me.Â
On the topic of meeting new people, I’d also tell my younger self that not everyone is a friend. In college, we often meet people and get excited about how great a connection feels early on, but sometimes that feeling isn’t always the best to rely on. There were times when I found myself in an odd space where I felt like I didn’t belong, or sometimes I ignored the signs of someone who is a bad person just for the sake of “keeping friends.” Some may call it shade, but to my younger self, I call it words of wisdom and warnings.Â
If I could, I would tell my younger self that the lessons I had learned in college are worth the education I received and the growth I had experienced. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if someone gets all A’s, or if it takes someone more than four years to graduate, or if someone isn’t in a big friend group; in the end, everything will be alright.