Alright everyone this is going to be a really long post so get comfortable and maybe get yourself a snack. As most of you know I recently graduated from college and I wanted to share my experience will you. There are a lot of things that no one wants to address before you decide to attend college, that is what this post is all about. I am here to talk to you about how the worst year of my life led to the best year of my life. I am going to share with you what I went through and my perspective on college. I hope that this post helps you to be more knowledgeable about your decision and understand how it can impact you.
College is a really intimidating word. Most of the individuals who are contemplating college are from the age of 17-19 years old. Colleges make you feel like you need to know EXACTLY what you want to do for the rest of your life NOW. Most people paint college as a mandatory next step but people do not realize that they have a choice. If you choose to pursue a college education make sure you are doing it for you and not because someone else thought you should go.
If you decide to go to college it is important to understand what you are getting into. Colleges do not have your best interest at heart. Colleges are in business to make money and at the end of the day they are looking out for themselves. It is important that you understand you cannot declare bankruptcy on your college loans…let that sink in. You cannot get your money back if it does not make you money like they told you it would. I am not against college, in fact I am a huge advocate for education and I loved college. What I am against is not understanding what you are getting yourself into and knowing how to make the most of it.
Prior to college I always had people who were looking out for me and only wanted to best for me. I went to a college prep school so I had a good foundation when I went into college. When I started college I expected there to be a road map so to speak but there wasn’t one. In fact, all the directions are miss matched and point every which way. You have to be able to interpret what is the best path for you and getting you to your end goal.
Before college people who knew me would describe me as happy, confident, and adventurous. But when I started college I was really nervous. The first day of classes I called my mom from the parking lot crying and preceded to tell her why I could not do this. She told me I had to go to class so I did. When I started I was sure that I was going to be a biomedical engineer but I was not doing it for me. My mom really felt that engineering would be the best path for me so I latched onto that. I do not blame my mom but I got sucked into other people’s expectations of what I was to do and be. I beg you, please do not let this be you and make sure you choose something you love. I think the best mindset to have when coming into college is to have an idea of what you want to do but do not lock yourself in so you have the ability to change if you feel yourself being pulled in a different direction.
Do not let people push you around. Like I said most individuals going into college are around the ages of 17-19. At this age people are in a weird transition phase between adolescents and adulthood. At this time they do not know who they are and often blindly follow the advice of others and the people around them. I am also guilty of this. Coming into college I had no college experience. I knew my degree was challenging but I have never been someone who shies away from a challenge. I scheduled my classes and at first I was excited but it turned to nervousness. I am not going to try and candy coat it, the closer the first day of classes got I started to have severer anxiety and I did not want to go. I love school and I did not want to go. Thanks to my mom I went to classes that first day but I quickly realized I was over scheduled. My advisor had over scheduled me and I’m not exaggerating. I am a numbers person and I ran the numbers and it was not physically possible for me to finish everything with the allotted time they felt it would take. I would not be able to sleep and I still would not be able to finish it all.
Like I said challenges do not scare me so I went to my advisor and they said not a problem we can change that for you. I got my schedule changed and got the materials I needed. I felt really good about it. I went to that class and talked with the professor who processed to tell me that he recommended I drop the class as it was an accelerated junior and senior class and I had no previous experience in college classes. I took his advice seriously but I was discouraged because nothing was working out. I went back to my advisor and explained the situation but they proceeded to tell me that college was not going to be easy and I needed to suck it up. I walked out of their office balling my eyes out because I was frustrated, overwhelmed, and discouraged. I was not trying to get out of a challenge, but I needed to be given an obstacle that I could reasonably handle. At this point my anxiety was at an all-time high. I would have panic attacks, cry myself to sleep on a regular basis, developed lock jaw because I was grinding my teeth in my sleep and I never wanted to leave my house. I wish that I would have stood up for myself more when I was in their office because that made everything so much worse for me. Even though this was not the best experience it led to some positive experiences.
I am extremely lucky the university I was attending had something they called a success coach and these individuals were for you to utilize to help you achieve success. My mom reached out to her and she asked my mom if it would be okay for her to call me. At this time I was literally crying in the parking lot. She called me and said it was going to be okay and she would help me figure it out. I went to her office in tears because I had reached my breaking point. I thank God every day for her because she sat with me and helped me figure everything out. I started to meet with her once a week to help keep me on track. Toward the end of the semester I felt like the degree I was pursuing was not for me. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was so stressed out because I was worried I would let down my family and friends. I was so nervous when I realized I had to have that conversation with my parents. I told them I wanted to change degrees because I hated it and felt like I was banging my head against the wall. I did not have a passion for it to do it for the rest of my life. With the help of my success coach I decided I wanted to pursue a degree in business. I started to take business classes but I still felt like I was not at the right university for me. I talked to my mom and she tried to say that I had a traumatic experience and had not had time to adjust and that this was just how the world is. I responded saying that the university was not a right fit and that if this is how the world is I did not want to be a part of it. I was raised to be a strong independent individual and that I could achieve anything I set my mind too.
My mom finally agreed and we visited LU and I instantly felt at home. I felt like I was where I was meant to be and everyone was so nice and helpful. I ended up transferring after my freshman year. Since then I have met some truly amazing people and had incredible opportunities. All my professors make their students a priority and they care about them not only in the class room but on a personal level as well. I decided to pursue a business degree and I could not have been happier.
Now that I have graduated I am extremely grateful for my experience. I hope that my experience can help you. Remember you learn from mistakes but no one said they had to be your own. Learn from my mistakes and make your experience the best that it can be. Remember you always have a choice and to never underestimate yourself.
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