College as the best time of your life

I really do love Hopkins. I love my classes and professors. I’ve made lifelong friendships and have had a ton of fun. But there’s a lot about college that you don’t see in the movies.

College is work. College is pulling multiple all-nighters a week. It’s skipping one class to study for another. Sometimes college is giving your all and still being unhappy with the result. College is about navigating tricky social situations and living in cramped dorms with your peers. It’s communal bathrooms. It’s learning how to budget time and money and making mistakes along the way. For me (and my fellow West Coasters) college is your first snowstorm and wearing a thick coat in the middle of March.

College has probably been the best time of my life so far, but is this the most fun I’m ever going to have? I don’t think so. I honestly have no idea why this idea has become so popular, so I decided to ask my friends what they thought.

“I think college is supposed to be the best time of your life because it’s when you’re the prettiest,” said one.

“You get to live on your own but don’t have to pay taxes yet,” said another.

“Your only job is to study. You aren’t working a dead-end job.”

And yes all these things are true, but who decided that college is going to be the best time of every single person’s life? We have to stop perpetuating this notion because it just leads to disappointment and heartache. I’ve received phone calls from younger friends asking me what’s wrong with them because they aren’t enjoying college as much as they thought they would.

Here’s the deal: Everyone is on a different timeline. Personally I expect that I’ll relish my mid 20s or early 30s more than I will college. I won’t have to worry about grades. I won’t be kicked out of a liquor store or bar because my ID is fake. I’ll be young, but I won’t be as clueless about how to be an adult as I am now.

If it turns out that my mid 20s or early 30s aren’t the best, maybe my late 30s will be. Maybe I’ll love marriage and raising a child. Or maybe I’ll be happiest in my late 50s when my kids are in college and I can finally try photography or scuba diving.

Or maybe my 70s will be the best. It’s possible that I’ll be the world’s best grandmother — spoiling my grandkids, baking, tending the garden or doing whatever it is grandparents do. You get the idea.

If college turns out to be the greatest time of your life then great! However I hope that the best years of my life aren’t over by the time I’m 21. Instead of panicking because your “best time” doesn’t match with someone else’s, see where life takes you. I think that no matter where we are in life we should believe that the best is yet to come.