Likes Dissolves Likes

Well before you know it, it's already almost the weekend. Time really has flown by so fast; one second I'm just starting college and moving into a new environment for the first time in my life. Starting tomorrow, it will be the end of my first year in college and I'll be moving out from an experience that was, needless to say, bad yet necessary for growth. I've met new people, lost some people, had more free time than I've ever had, dealt with all sorts of people, stressed out endlessly, stayed up all hours, woke up at crazy early times and even really late times, and basically lived a just a sample of the life that's ahead of me.

I mean, if we want to think about it this way, college is kind of a better pre-cursor to real life than high school is. High school you didn't really have to pay attention to your surroundings as much, because everything was set out for you. You would have classes from 7:30 in the morning until 2:30 in the afternoon every single day of the week. You would get a certain amount of homework, and tests were always staggered so there were never multiple tests within a day. Tests weren't difficult enough to warrant staying up all night studying. Worries were basically out the window because parents took care of everything: cooking, cleaning, laundry, the bills.

College gives all of us the opportunity to get a taste of what parents experience daily. Some people need to commute to college; some live hours away from home so they can't depend on their parents. I'll be the first to admit that I have never done my own laundry before until I went to college. Don't even get me started on cooking. You'll have hours between classes, and sometimes it's not even required to show up to class. Everything is now on your own time. If you want to do well in a class, you have to have the drive and make the effort. The teachers won't baby you and they really don't care if you have 2 papers due the day of their test.

Then there's the high schoolers that are thinking college is gonna be a free-ride of fun. Yeah, college is fun, but you also have to do work. It's not high school where you can get by without reading out of the textbook. My biggest problem was the fact I never wanted to; I got a 4.0 in high school without reading the textbook, why should I read in college if Verot is supposed to be a "mini college prep school"? You have to go above and beyond, especially if you go to a harder college than FGCU or you want to get into difficult programs. However, the second you let all of the negatives from the work needed weigh you down is usually when you won't be productive. You need fun to balance out the stress, just everything in life is about moderation and some people have better control than others.

College really is a slap to the face, but despite all of that, I'm excited to be able to move forward with my new connections and move one step closer to the person I'm supposed to be ♥

"I guess the real fact of the matter is, we don't know what tomorrow's going to bring. And the only real thing we really have is now. So, don't stay mad for too long. Learn to forgive. Love with all your heart. Stay up all night. Have fun. Live your life the way you want to live it. Don't worry about people that don't like you. Enjoy the ones who do. Have a crush. Kiss a boy. Just live life the way you want and you'll be happy with it and don't let anyone tell you you're doing it wrong."