I wish someone told me, part II

College is going to be tumultuous. Just know that going into it, like a captain on Deadliest Catch, steering his weather-worn boat out towards an icy haul, it is going to be hard and lonely and cold (figuratively and literally depending on your school of choice). It will cost a stupid amount of money and some level of your dignity (humble thyself and do the homework, you do not in fact know everything). I know, that last part is hard to hear. In fact you may have never been slapped with that message before. I assure you, youngling, you do not know everything. You, in fact, know very little. Unsettling isn’t it? There were many of these lessons I learned in college that were severely unsettling.

For instance, many of your high school friends were actually not friends at all. They were only acquaintances by proximity. You will begin to see a mass exodus of your “friends” after you begin a college hundreds of miles away. The upside is, the one or two REAL friends you made in high school will become solidified as life-long friends.

Shock #2, the world is a WHOLE LOT bigger than I first realized. There are ideals, faiths, theories, beliefs that I had never even imagined. Be willing to discuss genuinely and sensitively, these differences with your fellow classmates. I grew up in a deeply religious home. But in college, after being questioned about my faith, I realized I knew nothing. I had adopted my parents religion without understanding why. I spent many years questioning, ignoring, researching then ultimately discovering my own thoughts on these matters. In my very humble opinion, this is what college is about. I had to experience, and wrestle with, all of the differences. This is a good and beautiful thing to do. Grapple with ideals. Study. Read ALL THE THINGS (in books, not on the internet). Pray, meditate, talk to your professors (unless they are crazy, then maybe just pass the class and get out), talk with your parents, schedule a meeting with a pastor you trust. The Bible specifically says, “seek and ye shall find.” I mean God is begging for you to dig and discover these things. 

I also highly recommend doing this in the early years before you have two beautiful baby eyes looking to you for all of the knowledge and wisdom in the known universe. Utterly exhausted and stressed to the nines as a new parent is not the time to be searching for your spiritual foundation. Also, realizing early that you know little to nothing about life will have you one step ahead on parenting when your children slap you in the face with this truth

every.

single.

day.