<p>I am a senior in high school, and I have heard that from people who tell me what to expect.</p>
<p>Really, are most people happiest when they are college students?</p>
<p>It’s different for everyone, honestly. Depends on your personality and what you make of it. </p>
<p>I’m currently in my sophomore year of college, and personally the experience is a little overrated to me. I set my expectations way too high and then came back to Earth once I arrived. lol</p>
<p>I’ve made a few friends, joined a club, attend sports games, and had some good times and laughs. So it’s not that I don’t enjoy college, but personally I find my experience to be kinda humdrum and anticlimactic. I attend a pretty rigorous public university and alot of the time it just feels like a full-time job with a few lunch breaks in between.</p>
<p>High school life got old fast, but it was a safety net. There wasn’t any major challenges of the adult world that I had to tackle on my own, workload was easy, and I’ll admit I miss the days when making friends and great experiences just sort happened without even trying. Most of my friends now are people that don’t even attend my university. So it’s not like I’ll be feeling disconnected after graduation. In college, if you want something, it’s not going to be given to you on a platter. In fact, you probably will have to fight for it.</p>
<p>So it can be entirely up to you for the most part.</p>
<p>It definitely has the potential to be some of the best years of your life. You’re living on your own for the first time with hundreds of other young adults, most of whom have more free time now than they’ll ever have again until retirement. My biggest piece of advice is to take advantage of it. Find random fun things to do. Embrace your circumstances. Try something new and crazy. You’re only an undergraduate once, and you want to have awesome experiences to remember it by. I’m only just starting to get involved and do fun stuff, mostly because I’m finally getting my medical issues under control. College is 100% what you make of it. It can be boring and not live up to your expectations, or it can exceed your wildest dreams. Only you can make it the latter.</p>
<p>Thus far my years in college (which are sadly soon coming to a close!) have EASILY been the best years of my life.</p>
<p>Without a doubt they were easily the best four years of my life. The recipe is pretty simple: go to class, do what’s expected of you, pursue whatever career path you want vigorously. When you’re not doing that, go out with friends as often as possible. If partying is your thing, have at it. If staying sober is and getting involved in other stuff, then by all means. Either way, don’t miss a minute of it. You can sleep during your summer break.</p>
<p>Relevant quote:
“They say your schools days are the best days of your life but the only way that would be true for me would be if I went straight from school to prison and stayed there forever until I died” - Will, The Inbetweeners</p>
<p>College is really really great but it’s generally over by the time you’re in your early twenties; it’d be kind of sad if it was just all downhill from there.</p>
<p>Every 4 years is the best 4 years of your life</p>
<p>It was kind of the best and worst time of my life! I had a blast, but my fiance dumped me when I was a junior (it was a cross-country relationship, probably doomed from the start). I was a nerd, dweeb, whatever in high school and learned how to have fun in college. I was an engineering major, so I worked hard, but I really enjoyed it.</p>
<p>I was kind of hoping that the first 4 years of the empty nest will be the best 4 years :-). I think your parents are hoping the same thing.</p>
<p>I thought college was okay, but so far the years just after college have been the best. I have a lot more money and free time now that I am a young professional… I can pretty much do whatever I want within reason, which was not the case in college. I was broke and buried in work, on the occasion that I could make time to see a movie or eat in a restaurant I had no money to do it. I’ve had a lot more fun since graduation.</p>
<p>But, at the same time, college was the best time of my life SO FAR when I was still there… it seems each stage of life is better than the last. I think that’s how it’s supposed to be.</p>
<p>ETA: I think it’s important not to put too much pressure on any period of your life to be “the best ever.” If you do, the moment something goes wrong you’ll start to panic-- “But these were supposed to be the best years of my life! I am miserable! And it will only get worse from here, if I can’t be happy now I’ll never be happy again!” Sillyness. There will be ups and downs, it may be a great experience but it probably won’t be euphoria-- those who tell you it will be either spent their college years completely stoned or it’s been too long and they forgot all the bad parts. But it will be good, and it will get even better.</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s pretty hard to think of college as the “best four years of your life” when there’s so much work and stress with grades and everything, but time goes by pretty fast I think, at least I hope.</p>
<p>It is the best time for those that are taking very lax majors.</p>
<p>^^^^ aka the people who are screwed after graduation</p>
<p>I’m currently a junior in college but I know when I graduate I’ll be able to say college has been the best four years of my life. Like everyone else is mentioning, it all depends on what you make of it. You get a whole new start in college which is very nice. Please enjoy your undergrad. I can’t believe I’m already a junior and another semester is already over. I get sad when I think about how I just have three semesters left and it’s the real deal then. I’m going to miss college so much.</p>
<p>Best four years of your life? I think most people at my school are having the best 5 or 6 years of their life.</p>
<p>But nah, I don’t think so. I haven’t enjoyed it. I just want to get my degree and move on. I don’t think any of my friends have enjoyed college either. I’m pretty sure my sister is enjoying college, though.</p>
<p>It’s been the worst four years of my life. I haven’t made a single friend, joined a club, anything. All I did was study. It’s my last semester. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to make a friend. I didn’t have any in high school either.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman, but this semester has easily been the worst half-year of my life.</p>
<p>Just trying to get through it…</p>
<p>Are you all doing really hard majors?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Same here. miss my parents and sister, tough getting good grades, a lot of work. But we’ll get through it somehow, one way or another. I just hope it gets better</p>
<p>It’ll be more enjoyable than high school, but it’ll get better once I don’t have to worry about paying for education and can be completely financial independent. At least to me.</p>