Is it really 2004 already?
It hit me hard this year: reality. The reality that I'm finishing my fourth year and still won't have enough credit hours to graduate in May. I've known that it wouldn't be a four year program for me since I dropped Math 125 my freshman year. It doesn't really hit, though, until the fourth year when many of your friends are graduating and you're not.
Am I jealous of those of you who will be out on time? At first I was but not now. I have respect for you because I didn't have the same amount of discipline as you "on-timers."
But I realized I won't be regretting my extended stay at Ball State.
For me, college is more than obtaining a GPA or finishing in four years. It's creating yourself into the kind of person you want to be. It's about going from an 18-year-old who thinks she knows everything to a 22-year-old who just wants to learn more.
Something clicks in your head, and you realize, "I'm here because I want to be, because I want to become an expert on a particular area." It's a time to sift through what you've been taught by your parents and decide what you think (in my experience parents are usually right anyway, and the older I get the smarter they become.)
College is a time to educate yourself about your beliefs on life issues. The more you read and think on your own, the more you develop yourself.
That's what we are here to do.
It's about moving toward "the light at the end of the tunnel." It may not be that bright but it's there, and who cares how long it takes?
I don't want to be a "professional student." I would like to get out in the real world someday, but the real world will still be there next January.
I can spend energy on beating myself up, or I can use that energy to move on and not make the same mistakes twice.
To get through life you have to keep it light sometimes. Yeah, it's important to develop yourself intellectually, but it was just as important for me to gain some street smarts, lose some of my naiveness and learn about some extra-curricular aspects of life too.
To sum it up, I've compiled a short list of things I learned since my first year.
Freshman year: Just because 8 a.m. doesn't sound early in high school doesn't mean it won't in college.
Sophomore year: I moved out of the dorms to live with six other girls. Everyone has a friend over, and all of a sudden it's Tuesday night, and there's a raging party in the living room. Also, the financial aid check is supposed to last all semester.
Junior year: Finally you can go to the bars, and then finally you get sick of them. For as long as you look forward to being 21, it takes about one-sixteenth of the time to get over being 21. The bars - again? Doesn't anyone know of a house party?
First Senior year: Ok, I know I should have known better, but under no circumstances date two guys in the same semester who are roommates - you can use your imagination.
Second Senior Year: TBA. Who knows? I sure don't, but I can't wait to find out.
Write to Meghan at mefarr@bsu.edu
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