Wide Awake: What I Know Now
It’s that time of year again.
Facebook and Twitter are starting to pick up with students’ pithy slogans about how great it is that some college out there actually took them in.
Posts like, “So happy to be going to college next year! The only people more thankful than me are my parents”; “Finally getting a chance to leave the nest!”; or my personal favorite, “Guess I have to give up my dream of being a Wal-Mart greeter for the next four years…”
More specifically, I am talking about the newly-released decisions from the University of Florida, my beloved college, which begins the painful, molasses-slow outpour of awestruck acceptance, heartbreaking denial, and the taunting “wait list” option. Seriously, there is nothing more excruciating than balancing the awkward purgatory of being told you didn’t make it in, but you weren’t outright denied.
That being said, this slew of social media fervor got me thinking: What do I wish I could’ve known in high school that I know now as a college student?
For one, I learned that having a community experience is a key factor in living a healthy lifestyle. We need our friends. Of course, that’s not to say we don’t become close in high school. In fact, I’m going to college with my best friend since 9th grade. Yet, the classic, almost innocent feel of the high school lunch setting is now gone.
We don’t depend on coordinated schedules to facilitate bonding time–and if you go to a big school like me, that change is quite intimidating. That being said, everyone can relate to the feelings of wonder and terror we feel on the first day of college. We are on the threshold of what we name “the real world.” Finding that special group you can relate to and be yourself in absolutely defines the beginning of your college experience.
Another concept I learned is not to stress over little drama. Looking back, don’t we all realize the issues we had in high school were a little petty? For most of us, it comes back to that sense of confinement. We meet the same people at the same time of the same uniform week schedule–there are bound to be problems.
If I could go back in time and give myself a little piece of advice, it would be to recognize that there is a whole other world outside the constraints of the classroom. It’s widely acknowledged that college expands out cultural horizons, but it also plays an important role in expanding our physical boundaries. Because we have more places to go, we become more aware of the diversity of people that surrounds us, a critical component in this stage of development.
Finally, I learned that being yourself is the hardest and most rewarding part of life. We are complicated creatures. I once took a personality test that assigned me a certain color based on my personality. Yet, we don’t really exist as colors; we’re more like hues on a specific, varied spectrum. At any given moment, we expose certain shades of ourselves to strangers, acquaintances, friends, and family. As high school students, it’s hard to like all of ourselves. In fact, it’s still hard today–but that’s the epitome of individualization. We know that no one else in the world is just like us, and we like ourselves more for this fact.
So next time I see a Facebook post about the unbridled excitement of being accepted to college, I’ll smile, shake my head, and remember that what’s in store for them is nothing high school could have prepared them for.
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