Picture this: You’re on the floor thinking about how you haven’t done anything special in your life while everyone else is living theirs way better than you ever could, and you feel like a failure. Sure, I’m going to school, you think, but everyone else does that. I’m nothing special.
You then think you must get through college or university as diligently as possible so that when you graduate you can finally start living your “best life.” Guess what? You are living your best life!
The cultural mindset of school is rapidly changing with the state of the job market. Graduates joke that their degrees are useless when looking for a job. I’m no economics expert, but there’s no denying that the common thought of “degree, then career, then life” should be irrelevant.
Some people starting school don’t really know what they want to do; some do and are eager to pay to learn about their passions. Sometimes school just doesn’t work out. Younger students don’t realize post-secondary gives them more freedom in education than before.
In the first years of school, you can experiment with new topics and schedules. You can treat yourself more as an individual and learn what you like; plus, some classes have free workshops or events anyone can join in. Want to learn about human anatomy for a few hours? Care to listen to some of Camosun’s young and hip poets? You can do that!
Remember that the meaning of life isn’t to get a degree or a steady job (I mean, society is structured in a way that it’s pretty impossible to not do that, but I digress). You’re in college; make the best of it! Don’t wait for life to be perfect; work isn’t the be-all-end-all.