College is...

It seems like all my fellow seniors, including myself, are getting more and more worried about college. Everything is getting so hectic with our ongoing college searches, senior conferences, applications, and due dates. I keep hearing everyone asking everyone else which colleges they are applying to. Some people are applying to Ivy League's, others are applying to SUNY's, and I find myself looking at the types of schools in between the two. Even thinking about the whole before-college process gets me stressed out. Waiting for SAT/ACT scores and planning out the rest of my life.I think that a lot of the other seniors feel this way so this next part of my blog will hopefully make you guys smile and remind you of what's really important... the experience we are waiting for:

WHAT IS COLLEGE?

-College is about learning. It's not as simple as learning whatever it is that's being taught in your required classes though.
-It's about learning how to listen, how to speak, how to think... Learning who you are, who your friends are, and the type of people you want as friends. ... Learning how to trust your innermost feelings and how to find those feelings in the first place.
-It's about learning what's really important to you, and learning what you really don't give a damn about. College is about learning how to tolerate, how to accept, how to like, and most importantly; how to love...
-Learning how to give as well as recieve and how to trust that everything will even itself out on its own (you buy a pizza one night and your roomate will the next night)
-It's about learning that your mom and dad actually do have the right answers sometimes, and that your kid brother isn't such a dumb little kid anymore
-College is about learning how to treat people as people, not as stereotypes... Learning that sometimes a kiss isn't just a kiss, and that sometimes it means more, sometimes it means less...
-Learning how to achieve, how to succeed, how to accomplish. It's about how not to come in first place and still be proud, and about coming in last place and learning to admit that you could've done better.
-College is learning that loud parties don't necessarily mean a good time and that loneliness doesn't go away in a crowd, and that sometimes it's okay to be by yourself on a Friday or Saturday nnight.
-It's about learning that your lunchtime crowd does not constitute your popularity, and that popularity is all a matter of perspective.
-It's about learning that boredom is simply laziness of the mind, and that watching 3 hours of of Thursday Night NBC is not quality relaxation time.
-College is about learning how to pack a car, pack a bag, and how to pack a room full of way too much stuff...
-Learning that people probably like you a whole lot more than they'll ever tell you, and that it's your responsibility to make sure your friends know how much you appreciate them.
-It's about learning that simply doing what you're supposed to do isn't enough... you need to put forth twice that much in order to fully grasp whatever it is that's sitting in front of you.
-It's about learning how to make people smile.
-College is about learning how to miss people enough not to stick them in the past, and how not to miss them so much that it keeps you from moving into the future. It's about realizing that your best friends will be the people you share your room with... the people you cry with, get the flu with, and eat with.
-It's about learning to motivate yourself and motivating others. It's about learning what the phrase "make do" means, and how to make $5.00 last a week... and saving every quarter for the washing machines and dryers.
-It's realizing that every other freshman in your dorm or on your floor is scared their first night in school... it's about looking forward to a brown box with cookies and toothpaste... It's about learning the value of a constant supply of toilet paper... It's about learning to hear in all the different languages of your floor/dorm/roomates...
-College is about learning that as you find out more, there is less that you really know... It's about not being afraid to cry in front of your firends, and that everyone has the same bad habits that you do... It's about learning that you have four more years before you hit the real world...
-College is also about learning that your mom isn't such a bad cook after all... and that you can do a million things with macaroni and cheese... It's also learning that you can get more out of a person by caring for them and being honest with them...
*COLLEGE IS ABOUT LEARNING...
... LEARNING HOW TO LIVE...

[props to Mr. Bolen for that ^]