The norm as of late are memes related to laziness and over eating, loving yet hating yourself, and all around not actually putting much effort into your college experience. I am not the most motivated person around, and I’ll be the first to admit it. I don’t wake up early to go on jogs or do yoga. Honestly, I don’t pencil in the time to work out in my schedule at all. I go out to eat, a lot, and generally order a burger with everything on it along with a hefty, chocolate shake mixed with at least three sweet toppings. I wait until the last minute to do my work and I spend far more money than I save. I would say this makes me a pretty normal college student.
Yes, I am a typical collegiette who does think “same” after reading said memes concerning laying around in bed all day instead of going out and getting sh*t done. What if the norm, though, the expectation, changed? Memes like…
“You train for that marathon! YOU GO GLEN COCO!”
“No, I’m not laughing at my salad, I am actually enjoying it.”
“Studied every day after class instead of just the night before the test, got 8 hours of sleep and an A on that test.”
These are memes of encouragement, as I like to call them, in contrast to memes supporting lazy habits.
The concept of “I’m lucky to be here,” joining with “People in my age group think it’s okay that we live this way” did the whole *light bulb* thing in my head amidst the cramming, over-eating, and staying in. I recently procrastinated one of my finals, and during a call with my fiancé, we both complained about not wanting to get up. He didn’t want to get out of his car and venture into the wintery cold air to begin his four hours of a study group. I didn’t want to get out of my warm bed to walk upstairs and write a paper. Something clicked. I was talking on my iPhone 6, didn’t want to get out of my cozy, paid for bed in my personal, spacious bedroom, to go upstairs to my laptop, and type up a paper for an education that I have been given the opportunity to relish in. Can you say “priviledged?” This was #FirstWorldProbs in its absolute finest.
We seem to know that we are complainers and not aiming to achieve all that we can by embracing the opportunity of what we are given. We are not stupid. Especially now, we college and college-aged students do not use our priviledges to our advantage. We turn ourselves into a punchline instead of taking ourselves seriously.
I am soooo over scrolling through my social media feeds and being faced with not words of encouragement, but with lame excuses to make me feel better about not putting forth much effort into my existence. As college students, given this truly magnificent opportunity, why are we not taking full advantage to learn and grow? We are paying money to be here. What’s the real point of waking up early after pulling all-nighters, just to BS finals and hope for a passing grade? Why is the saying “All college students are alcoholics” so familiar and accepted? Where are you really going to find yourself? In a binge-watched series following a brutal hangover and meaningless hook-up, or in devoting each precious moment to learning from a wise professor, listening to a yoga instructor, waking up early to write in your journal and staying up late to make money to pay for experiences?
To get to the point, I want to thank the motivated collegiette. You are inspiring and you are a rare gem. So here are some words of encouragement to you.
And to all of the other collegiettes, the ones like me: Choose now. Choose to have your future be glorious. Choose to respect your past and build upon it. That is what you deserve; to work harder, be better, and become more.