I feel as though my time in college was too short, only three and a half years. I am certainly jealous of my friends that get to spend the full four or five years in school. It seems like they get to enjoy the “greatest years of their lives” just a little bit longer than me. My college experience was definitely full and something special, but there are things I wish I would have done, or not done, to make my college life better. I hope you, dear reader, take them to heart and do not make the same mistakes I did.
First, I wish I would have joined a sorority.
I fought that battle of whether to rush or not rush since I was freshman. I craved the community that I saw other girls had. I used to be obsessed with the thought of parading around campus in my stitch letters, and a part of me still is. I wanted to join a sorority because it looked fun, and I wanted to be in the Greek community, not necessarily for the popularity that came with it, but I was so desperate to be within a community of women who were on my side, who would stand in my corner and who believed in the same values I did. I looked into the Panhellenic sororities as well as the National Pan-Hellenic Council ones. I knew that sororities were not for everybody, but it was for me. However, I never did it. I never committed to it. I thought the cost of Greek life was too much to bear. I was told my whole life that being in a sorority meant that you were just “paying for your friends.” Even as an outsider, I can tell it’s not true. It’s probably my biggest regret from college. So, if you are on the line like I was, do it. Try it. Greek life may be for you. Do not sit on the sidelines watching like I did.
Second, I wish I would not have focused so much of my time on boys.
Ladies, if you came to college single, you know the pressure you feel from friends and family members to find your soulmate. Let me tell you from someone who has been there and done that, do not worry about it. I spent so many wasted days on Tinder trying to find Mr. Right when I knew I would only find Mr. Wrong. I had to deal with a lot of broken hearts, confusion and awkward encounters. Please take my advice when I say the love of your life will enter in at just the right time. Focus on school, boys will come later. I am a senior on the brink of graduation, and I am still single, and that is okay. I am trusting in God’s sweet, sweet timing.
These are just two of the many regrets I have in my college career. Some hardly affected my experience, others were detrimental. So, whether you are a freshman and this is your first semester in college, or you are a senior beginning the first of all your lasts. Heed my warning: do things that scare you. Go out on a limb and take risk doing something you never could see yourself doing before. Focus your thoughts and actions on things that matter, like your best friends, that English paper due tomorrow and how you are going to leave a mark on campus. College is supposed to be the greatest years of your life; do not waste some of it like I did.
With Love,
A Senior