College – It’s something most of our friends are going through simultaneously but in such different ways.
We’ve all heard the phrase “college is the best four years of your life” and, for many, that couldn’t be more accurate—especially considering we’re about to enter a world full of bosses and unwanted structure. Plus, before this point, we’ve been bound by the shackles of high school report cards, state exams and unwanted classes.
Our awkward, out-of-childhood positioning at the doorway to professionalism means our college memories will be some of the last “youthful” recollections we’re afforded.
When we’re home, reveling in those much-needed breaks from our innumerable obligations, we find ourselves subject to our friends’ seemingly endless college stories. For many, we share laughs over the awkward, inspiring and everything in-between but there’s always a sense of confusion. We don’t understand the mentalities of our friends’ campuses, the personalities of those they mention or the geography of the local area.
In essence, it can be frustrating listening to story after story, never really getting the “full picture,” despite our genuine care for the experiences of those we label our “best friends.”
For that reason alone, taking time to visit friends at college is worth the elongated car rides and distressing price of gas; it’ll make all the past, present and future shared stories a lot clearer. Anyway, considering the excitement of our collegiate adventures, juxtaposed to the rigidity of our upcoming professional lives, we’ll be subject to these stories so long as our friendships thrive.
In essence, college is a defining phase in our lives. We’re imbedded in a campus bleeding with opportunities and newfound perspectives, so it’s important we get a look into the four-year period that’s shaping the people who’ve helped shape us.
Besides just getting a feel for past stories of drunken nights, hungover mornings, dispassionate professors and food-poisoning meals—and those we’ve yet to share—visiting a friend at college provides a lot in the now.
Our daily lives are all about consistency. We know where and when we have a given meeting, class or co-curricular event—making everything else fall in between our lengthy list of to-dos. By making the trek to a friend’s campus, we find ourselves on a momentary vacation from our sometimes overly structured lives. With a newfound variety of bars to hop, restaurants to try and local attractions to explore, that closing-in stress is lifted for a quick moment.
In a sense, there’s a sort of freedom to visiting a new campus too, since our weekend antics can be rationalized by the fact we don’t attend the university. Sure, safety comes first, but there’s no reason to avoid flirting a little more, dancing like a fool or attending a few extra house parties, because odds are that you won’t be seeing those you encounter again.
With that being said, our friends have a collegiate posse of their own and we’ll likely be introduced to their eclectic crew—meaning there’s a whole slew of new people to get to know and maybe, become friends with.
Essentially, visiting a friend’s campus gives us the choice to branch out to both a new audience of undergrads and an unknown area or stick to what we know, with fun as the focus regardless.
All the fun aside, visiting a friend at college often gives us an unexpected appreciation for what we have back at our alma maters. This realization doesn’t mean we didn’t enjoy the trip, rather it reminds us we enrolled in a college that best suits our daily needs, among our expedited “growing up” process.