College - not all fun and drinking games

College is hard. And I'm not just talking about the tests or the pop quizzes your professor likes to spring on you when you just so happen to have not done your reading that day. I mean college life, the day to day routine of living in a dorm that's old, with people you don't know and perhaps don't really care for, while trying to make friends all while you are trying to keep your GPA from suffering is truly difficult. It's also difficult to decide what's right and what's "cool" as opposed to what's "not cool". But hey, with a little help from Tom Petty here it shouldn't be that difficult right?

“You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does..."”

I feel like I've seen this quote on over 20 people's Facebook pages. Ya, it's cute and kinda fun to think about. But, really? Really people? Do you really think work is for people with jobs because I'm pretty sure work, whatever the type is, is something that ultimately shapes you as a person. The time and effort you put in to things can say alot about someone. It's those people who don't work a day in their lives that graduate and suddenly reality hits and they have no clue what it means to meet a deadline or drag yourself to an office at 8 am instead of just slumping behind a desk at your 10 am class. 

And also, Tom: what do you mean when you advise kids to "spend money you don't have"? Because, from experience I can tell you that the feeling that you get when your debit card is returned back to you in the grocery store when you're trying to buy food to live off and you realize it's because you spent your last $20 at a bar two nights ago when you weren't thinking clearly is not a good one. You get a pit in your stomach. I mean sure a lot of students will just dial up their moms or dads to bail them out, and I have certainly done that 5 or 6 times but again, it is something you learn from not something you appreciate doing. 

Now, I feel like I'm sounding too critical here. I have had a ton fun in college. And I have done everything that this Petty quote celebrates. But...reflecting back on it all I feel like I could have been smarter with some of my decisions. Reflecting back on that, it's probably a common thing for college graduates to look at some of the things they did their past 4 years and to think the same thing. And it's not regret. To regret means you wish you would have never done whatever it is in the first place. And if I would have never gone out on a Tuesday when I had work at 6 am on a Wednesday I wouldn't be in the position I am now to advise myself not to do that again. It's almost a good feeling, like despite learning how to perfect an essay, you've also learned to know yourself and trust yourself to make good decisions.  

So, to an extent, Tom Petty is right. But to a much higher degree, I feel like this quote is a little misleading. College students, as crazy and wild as we are expected to be, also use the 4 years to grow and change in to a true adult. Preparing themselves for what life is going to be like for the rest of their lives because it certainly will not involve fraternity houses and late night pizza deliveries.

Love (from my kitchen table with an open GRE study book next to me)

Katie