OK. That long weekend really screwed me up.
So, I have here another rejected write-up and would like to share it with you.
How many others felt college was just something you did and not where you met your best friends? Or had the best experiences?
My four years of college were good, but not great. Here's why:
College was supposed to be the time to become inspired, but I just went through the motions.
Each semester of college I eagerly signed up for classes, ensuring I'd get the ones I needed to complete my major. Rarely did I take the opportunity to sign up for classes I wanted to take.
College didn't leave me with any life-changing impressions of how the world would be, except it's not what you know, but who you know and drama is ever present.
At one point during college, I was assigned an adviser who was a journalist who covered the Vietnam War in Vietnam. I was excited, thinking she'd be able to give me great advice and point me in real-world directions to become a fantastic journalist.
Instead, when I consulted her for class choices, she looked at my list and said, "Well, it looks like you've got it all figured out." She turned back to her computer and I sat stunned.
I asked, "Do you have any advice on which classes would help me better?"
"No," she replied. "It looks like you are right on track."
I asked her what kind of extracurricular activities I could do to improve my skills as a writer. She didn't have an answer and brushed me off for another appointment.
Her classes were no different. She didn't find my writing up to par, yet wouldn't give me advice on how to improve. Instead, she just fawned over two other students whom she thought had fantastic skill and used their writing to berate the other students.
After I realized my adviser would be of no help, I signed up for the easiest classes I could just to get done with college. Through this, I discovered my friend and mentor, Katherine. Through her class, I learned solid writing skills and at least a basic knowledge of layout. I also learned that building relationships with sources is incredibly important. Gaining the trust of one source can lead to gaining the trust of others and helps build your reputation as a respectable writer.
Above all that, Katherine gave me the confidence I needed to leave college and feel good about being a writer.
Not only were classes less than fulfilling, it was a struggle for me to live with other people.
I lived on campus all four years during college -- two of those years were spent in an apartment shared with three girls.
It was 95 percent drama. I imagined the experience had to be what it was like to have sisters, making me even more glad I grew up in a house full of boys.
Most days I withdrew to my room to read or do homework just to avoid the constant catting about who left what where. On many occasions, I went over to a friend's house or the library just to be in a calm environment.
You'd think there'd be a bright spot aside from the drama of living with a bunch of women. There wasn't.
Believe me, I tried to find that bright spot by doing all the college-y things people expect college students to do.
But again, I just went through the motions -- I hung on the edges of friend groups, went to the bar, crashed a few parties, took a random weekend excursion, pulled several all-nighters, procrastinated, and so on.
I know college is supposed to be about meeting the best friends of your life and finding yourself. College was more like graduating to a larger high school, except I had way more responsibility.
My life didn't change until I got my first job and realized college taught me virtually nothing.
Don't get me wrong, college is important -- whether it's a two-year school or an Ivy League university. What you learn in college is useful, but I had literally one class and one instructor that left an impression on me.
Although my collegiate career was less than satisfactory, it wasn't entirely useless. I met people along the way who have since pointed me in the right direction and helped me grow as a person and in my career.
Really, college was the diving board for me to find the best times of my life.
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