The 5 most important things I learned in college

Isn't it supposed to be about what you're studying?

I loved college. Truly, college was indescribably refreshing for me after the horrors of high school - which, although bad for most teenagers, was amplified by the simple fact that I lived in Ohio. Yeah, I know.

But I really thought college was going to teach me a lot of factual information that I could then apply in the real world- or, at least, in the workforce. And while I did learn a lot about political science, Spanish, and economics (my three main areas of study), what I learned about most was life. No, really - let me tell you about the five most valuable lessons I learned in my four years of freedom.

1. You don’t really go to college to learn about biology, or math, or English - you go to learn how to learn. But I’m not even sure how well I did that.

   1. This philosophy comes straight from my economics teacher, a Catholic priest from Uganda who seriously reformed my entire way of looking at life. One day, as he wrote some messy economics on the board (that literally no one else in the room understood), he asked us an especially daring question for a professor to ask: “Do you think you will ever use this in your career?” We sat silent, fearful, unsure of how to respond to such a clearly trapping question. One unlucky girl made eye contact with the professor, and he pointed to her. She hesitantly peeped, “Maybe?” Of course, this wasn’t the correct response. “NO!” Our professor exclaimed. “Absolutely not. You aren’t here to learn this. You’ll never use this in your life. You are paying for the value added of a college education; you are paying to learn how to learn.”

      

      An actual photo of me slaving over my economics homework for the rest of the semester, after being told none of it mattered by the same man who graded it. For the record, I got an A in that class. I couldn’t tell you how.

2. “You didn’t hear me say this, but… Maybe I don’t actually want to be a strong independent working woman.”

   - Emma G. Nelson, an actual quote, junior year of college

   I barreled into college with a clear view of the future Emma G. Nelson: An undeniably sexy and incredibly intelligent young female attorney saving the world from crime with the help of a Harvard Law School degree, some witty legal language, tight pencil skirts, and, occasionally, a blotch of spunky red lipstick. Yet, the more I pushed through undergrad, the more I realized how horribly boring the working world looked to me - and even worse, I realized how dearly my silly little heart wanted to do life things like get married and have babies! Look, I know I can balance being a badass working woman and a great mother - and many women certainly do - but the more I studied, the more I wondered: Was that actually my dream? My dream is to be a writer and a mom, but leading up to my college days (and for my first year of undergrad), I’d allowed myself to believe that pursuing this dream would make me a failure in the real world. It took a lot of time for me to realize that there’s just nothing about the life of a freelance writing young mom that can’t be badass, too.

3. Don’t get a dog when you are sad. Even if you absolutely love dogs, like me, just don’t do it. Apparently, getting a dog when you are sad is a terrible decision - just as my parents told me about 1000 times before I did it anyways. Look, you’ll pick the cutest, dumbest dog and pay way too much for it. Just don’t do it. But the real lesson here is, sometimes it doesn’t matter how lovingly - or how often - your parents try to teach you something. College is that time of your life when you really do have to discover some things for yourself. And that includes learning things the hard way - like, apparently, you shouldn’t get a dog when you’re sad. Just eat some ice cream to get over the break up, or the fight with your best friend, or the “F” on your exam. Trust me. You’ll be okay.

   

   Yes, this is the dog I purchased (for none less than $1000 - that I 100% did NOT have to spend). He is very real, and very obnoxious. And yes, he’s a Shih Tzu. I don’t want to hear it.

4. If you don’t do any work for the group project (or if you do your part at 11:30 PM when it’s due at 11:59), you’re officially the worst type of person. It’s time to get it together - or at least pretend to get it together for the night - so that the rest of us can go to bed, or Buc-ee’s, or literally anywhere else but our computer where we are currently stuck doing your part of the project. Please. I thought this sucked in high school. I was wrong. It is SO much worse in college. Like, didn’t you apply to be here?!

5. All the things you’ve always wanted in your hometown will arrive as soon as you leave. Apparently, you’re the problem. No, seriously. When I went to college, my town had one Starbucks and one coffee shop (which had been re-bought and renamed multiple times due to its lack of business). There was one park near my house, and it wasn’t nice. There wasn’t a good bar, nor were there any larger chain stores within a 10 mile radius of my house. During my first year out of town, they built three new coffee shops, a waterpark - yes, it’s free - , a massive brewery/restaurant, and an entire shopping center about 5 minutes from my house. Oh, and they even redid the town welcome signs. Hello, shiny silver lettering. But it’s okay, I don’t take it personally; I was just holding the whole town back, I guess.

Well folks, there you have it. The five most important things I learned in college. I hope you can relate to a few of these, and please, share some of your own lessons in the comments;)! I’d love to hear what you learned during your four+ years of enlightenment.