The areas in our college lives, such as sleep schedules, healthy habits, and grades all fluctuate throughout the quarter or semester as we try our hardest to keep them as consistent as possible. One pretty consistent area, however, is being around people. Five days a week, maybe even seven for some, are always filled with people, our peers, closest friends, and other students we pass by. You get used to this routine of seeing others daily, and once you get back home or finally have leisure time to yourself, it can be uncomfortable. The experience of a lack of people and sociability can be such an odd feeling for some to adapt to, that they choose to never really be alone to escape the feeling of loneliness. While having amiability towards others as a key characteristic is good, how much of a friend are you to yourself?Â
The feeling of loneliness has more of a looming sadness and negative connotation behind its name, but the feeling of being alone whilst enjoying it is a whole other scenario. College is such a significant time in your life, as you strive for your goals through gaining knowledge about your future career, it is also a time for you to learn about independence and what being your own person means. Spending time alone allows us to gain a better understanding of who we are as we adapt into adults. Just from learning about ourselves, we are more likely to engage in actions that better who we are and include the things we enjoy. Not only does being alone allow us to deep dive into our greatest interests but lets us in on the things or types of people we also do not particularly enjoy. In college, you often think about how to approach others, whether it be your friend on a bad day or a random person who just sat next to you during class. How often do you sit with yourself and practice introspection? Oftentimes, a lack of self-reflection can make you feel like a stranger to your own reflection. Self-reflection is a huge part of being alone, within this, you are able to better yourself by noticing your faults and processing your feelings. Â
I personally believe being emotionally mature is a much more notable quality in a person than one who believes vulnerability is a weakness.Â
Through your solitude and self-reflection comes success. With more time spent with yourself, less time goes towards envy and comparison with others. You genuinely want to better yourself and success becomes this achievable concept that is tangible in goals. There is success in just learning to enjoy being alone and loving yourself as a whole. As the age-old saying goes, “people come and go,” which is more than true, but two things can also coexist. So, even if the people in your life go and it hurts, you still have someone, and that person is you. As long as you have yourself, you have someone.Â