5 Lessons I’ve Learned in College

Fear Can Be Powerful, But You Are More Powerful

Something that I don’t share too often on here is that one of my biggest fears is public speaking. One of the best decisions I’ve made in my life but also the scariest was switching my major from Finance to Media Management. Switching meant that I would be a part of a new and exciting major that focused on media and the Internet but also having lots of presentations. And I do mean a lot. It felt like hell and I’ve lost track of how many times I was driving home and burst into tears because I couldn’t be like the others. At the time, my fear felt more powerful than I was and I would have awful thoughts like “what if this ruins my career in the future?” or “who cares how successful I become, people will only remember me by the girl who couldn’t talk”. Now here’s the truth: I have survived 100% of my presentations and I didn’t die. Throughout many of them, I have stuttered, rambled, and sometimes even froze and had to have one of my group members take over for me. Yet I still survived. Trust me, you won’t die from failure. Funny enough, the more mistakes I’ve made the more comfortable I’ve become with failure. Fear can be a painful thing, but sooner or later you’ll realize you had the power to overcome it all along. This will all be worth it. 

Learn To Be Your Own Best Friend 

College means that your friendships will be constantly changing and people that you thought will be there forever, actually…won’t. It’s a sad change because a lot of times you’ll be on your own. Either at your internship, in classes, or other places. One of the best skills that you can develop is to become your own best friend. Not many people are comfortable being alone and when you have the confidence to stay strong by yourself, people will notice. The best part is that it attracts the right kind of people and will help you to develop new and more meaningful friendships. 

Showing Appreciation Can Go a Long Way 

Believe it or not, being thankful and showing appreciation has led to receiving some of the best opportunities during my college years. Something as simple as giving a professor a thank you card or even telling one of your classmates how much you liked their presentation can make a big difference. It shows that you’re supportive and who doesn’t want to be known as that kind of person? Not only will it help you in college but in your future career as well. 

Trust The Process

One of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned in college is to relax and realize that everything is happening as it should. When I first got into college, I had no clue on what to major in and was terrified about the future. I remember asking everyone I knew how they figured out what to do with their lives and they all said the same thing which wasn’t helpful at all: “you just know”. I felt like I was running out of time so I threw myself into Finance cause it’s a “safe” major where I would make good money. I had no passion for it whatsoever and in order to cope with how miserable I was, I decided to start blogging. If someone told my high school self that this is how I would find out what to major in, I would’ve never believed them but that’s just how life is. I remember the excitement yet also the misery that I felt the day that I officially switched majors which meant I would be going to college for another year. Sure, I could’ve doubled up on classes and risked finishing college with a low GPA but my intuition told me that I needed that extra year. And my intuition never lies. I was able to accomplish so much in college and it never would’ve happened if I didn’t study the wrong major in the beginning. The biggest realization was that I wasted a bunch of time worrying about the future for nothing when everything worked out in the end! Now that college is ending and my future is unclear once again, I’m reminding myself of this experience. 

Understanding The Art of “Slowing Down”

College will be over before you know it (and this coming from the girl who went to college for 5 years!) and one of the things that I regret most is not always letting go of my workaholic ways and appreciating the present. There was so many moments that I wish I could go back and experience again, not to change anything, but to just live through it and understand how precious those moments were. Ironically, it’s always those little moments that meant so much.