Is College Really the “Best Years of Your Life?”
photo courtesy of pexels / stanley morales
At one point or another, every college student has heard the words, “college is the best years of your life.” The discouraging weight of this phrase holds a HUUUGE impact on the way students feel about their college experience. So what happens when it isn’t a good experience, when you feel stressed and lonely, and sometimes you just straight-up want to go home? It’s okay to not have the best years of your life in college, and here’s why.
Starting college off with the expectations of it being the best four years of your life is an unfair pressure to put on students. Balancing work, extracurriculars, and maintaining an active social life is difficult enough without the added fear of not doing *the most.* Especially during times like midterms and finals, students have little to no free time and are forced to sacrifice either school or social life.
College is the time in your life when you work yourself to the bone while paying money instead of earning it. As much as you learn, you lose; it is the time to say goodbye to your childhood and start working towards an adult future. College is lonely and isolating at times, and there is bound to be that inevitable disappointment when life isn’t a constant party or serious character growth scene from a coming-of-age movie. The unfair expectations this phrase brings create an air of anxiety surrounding making these years fun. Nothing is ever fun 100% of the time...especially not college.
College is obviously amazing, and we are all so privileged to be here regardless of whatever experience we are having. That being said, categorizing it as the best years of your life is unrealistic and toxic and can lead to fear of missing out and unfulfillment. It makes college students feel as if they need to be living this fun, happy, young adult life full of parties and drinking at any given time. Reinforcing this statement can affect students’ mental health and personal college experience. Petition to rebrand the phrase “these will be the best four years of your life,” to “these will be four important years of your life.”