Is it really all it’s cracked up to be?
I remember being a freshman in high school and thinking, “I can’t wait ‘til I graduate. College is going to be awesome!” I had created this mental image of fun all the time, meeting new people, and just being free to do whatever you want. Then fast-forward to senior year. By that time, I had decided on a major: broadcast journalism. I applied to SMU and UNT; the first because of its state-of-the-art broadcasting facility and its proximity to my home, and the latter because of its diversity and nationally accredited journalism program. I got extremely anxious waiting for the letters to show up, and when they finally did, I settled on North Texas.
So now I’m here, and into the fourth week of classes. Now you ask, does college measure up to the hype? Well, I’ve definitely met a lot of new people (the majority of whom are members of the softball team…), and there is certainly an increased amount of freedom. But I guess the main thing I didn’t account for was the amount of time that is swallowed up by classes and studying. I mean, I knew that element existed, but I didn’t realize that my leisure time would be so limited. My friends and I no longer refer to meals as breakfast, lunch and dinner, but as Social Times 1,2,and 3 because those are the only times we see each other. I’m not saying that I never do anything else; I’ve actually already had my first college party experience (which I will discuss another time). But geez, I didn’t expect to be so consumed with work.
As I said before, this is only the fourth week, so I’m sure I’ll get used to managing my time. I guess just wanted the image I had in my head to be true. I was so excited to be independent and become my own person, I didn’t factor in the actual education that I came here for. In reality, that may be the reason that so many students don’t make it past the first year of college. They’re so focused on taking advantage of their independence, they don’t remember the classes until the last minute.
The concept that I’ve derived from my first few weeks of college is this: Yes, you do have the freedom to do you what you want. Whether it be studying and going to class, or partying all night and skipping that 8 a.m. class the next morning, it’s up to you. Awesome.
