I remember the first day of class as if it was only a year ago and not five years ago. The more I think about it, the more it hits me when I realize that these five years in college are the equivalent of the years from 8th to 12th grade. I was not the same girl in my senior year as I was in 8th grade, and I’m definitely not who I was when I was a freshman at university.
The way I see it, my first year of university can be denominated as “Naïve Girl Realizes the World is Bigger Than Her.” Going from a school in which everyone knows each other to a university where you become just another number, another student trying to survive the real world, can be tough. In university, you make your own rules, which, as liberating as it is, can also be scary. How are you supposed to know what you want to do with your life at 17 years old?! I certainly didn’t, but lucky for me, and after suffering through my sophomore year which I called “Traumatic, Never To Be Experienced Again,” I changed majors. Truly one of my best decisions ever!
After switching majors and experiencing three different faculties throughout these five years, I can confidently say that I’ve learned a few things here and there. As scary as university life may be, it’s also an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. I’ve changed for the better, and my perspective has too. Now I see things differently, and I am sure that the more I grow up, the more things I will learn and look back at and say “Oh, how naïve she was.” If it makes you feel better, university sucks for everyone one way or another, but it’s also a place where you learn valuable lessons. Here are a few I learned along the way:
MAKE NEW FRIENDS (AND VALUE FRIENDSHIPS)
A lot of people lose contact with their friends from high school. It’s a sad part of growing up and studying in different universities. There are people from my class that I haven’t seen since prom! I have been lucky enough to stay friends with some of my school mates, and talking with them makes me feel the happiest. My longest friendship has been with my best friend who I met when I was in the second grade. I truly don’t know where I would be without him. But, as lucky as I was to be able to attend the same university as him, we were in different faculties, so I couldn’t be with him all the time. So, I could either stay bored and friendless in a completely different environment or I could start talking to new people.
To say that it was scary doesn’t do it justice; it was terrifying. I still remember the first friendship I made in my first class, we were bonding over her pretty handwriting and anime. In the blink of an eye, I was already a couple of months into the first semester and suddenly I had a friend group of more than 10 people and I was going to my first party ever! It certainly wasn’t easy, once I even had to chase down a person to beg for their friendship because I thought they were very cool, but that’s neither here nor there.
Retrieved from Pinterest.
The thing with making friends at university is that you create relationships with people that want to see the best in you. You bond over a horrible professor and next thing you know, you’re studying in the library. These are the people that will get happy whenever you accomplish something good in life; they’re the ones who will be there at your worst. It may be scary, but when isn’t life scary? Just remember to always value them, and to always value yourself. Friendship goes both ways.
LET YOURSELF LEARN
I know, I know, taking classes that are “unnecessary” to your degree and not a part of your own concentration can be very frustrating. But guess what? If it wasn’t for those classes I wouldn’t have realized I hated what I was studying. More than that, if it wasn’t for my humanities classes, my critical thinking skills wouldn’t be as developed as they are now. I’m a firm believer that universities are there to open your mind to different perspectives that you may have never thought possible. You meet different people, you are taught by professors who have lived different experiences, you study different topics. Let yourself learn all about them. Let yourself become more than what you have been taught at home. I have learned more by listening to the comments of a stranger in class, than in my concentration courses.
One of my favorite classes was a course I definitely didn’t have to take, and I only did it because I thought that it may expand my knowledge on Caribbean Literature. I pat myself in the back for doing so because I ended up loving the class. The professor was wonderful, but the debates from the students were even more brilliant. People would comment about the readings, they’d mention concepts that some of us had never heard before, and the professor would bring interesting and updated content related to the topics in class. I also took another course where the professor taught us about problems from a lot of countries through films, literature, and art. I never knew I was interested in art until I took my first Art History class! It’s all about the attitude that you have when it comes to learning.
“YOU KNOW WHAT IT NEVER WAS? THAT SERIOUS”
Now, although I just said to let yourself learn, I beg you to let yourself go of all those bad grades, bad professors, and bad classes. No matter how world-ending it may feel, it’s never that serious. That hell week you thought you would never get out of? Yup, the week passed and guess what? You survived it. That class you didn’t pass? You took it again, and passed it. And if you didn’t, don’t give up now! I know for careers like STEM, your GPA is important to get into grad school, but you know what? Your GPA doesn’t determine the kind of person you are. We live in a world where we prefer to pass a class instead of actually learning something from it. And it’s never that serious, so enjoy your life!
Yes, it’s important to be responsible, but it’s also important to know when to take a break, and when to simply go to the beach and relax. I know about the pressure of watching other people finish things before you, but it’s not a competition. What’s actually serious is your happiness and your mental health. Live your life at your own time. Be responsible, but don’t let university (and all the negative stuff that comes from it) ruin your day or your years.
Retrieved from Pinterest.
Throughout these years, I’ve learned that as cliché as it sounds, life is full of surprises and changes. I’ve learned that a couple of bad days or years don’t mean a bad life. Maybe what I’m studying will not be a lucrative career, and maybe I have no idea what I want to do with my life once I graduate, but I do know that I did have fun. There are things I wish I didn’t do, and others I wish I did. There are people that I miss, and others that I hope I’ll never see again but I leave this place with beautiful memories, wonderful experiences, and even more incredible friends. I have cried, laughed (and cried some more), but I have learned, and for that I am very grateful.