If I Had To Do College All Over Again, This Is What I’d Do

College is four years. Four very short years.

The days are long, but the years are short. – Gretchen Rubin

I actually graduated in three and a half years, so college can be even shorter. This sounds so braggy, I know, but it’s a fact! What am I supposed to do about it.

I was one of those girls. Always had to be doing something. I had a color-coded calendar (still do…) I never watched TV, I couldn’t just sit and have a conversation, yoga sounded like the LAST THING ON THE PLANET I would EVER do (I tried it once and shavasana gave me such anxiety that my chest almost cracked into pieces), and I couldn’t even drink coffee because I had so much energy (read: anxiety), that coffee gave me horrible, chest crushing attacks. Sometimes I had to put “dinner” on the calendar because I was so busy I literally forgot to eat.

If I were that busy ever again, I would probably DIE. Like literally I would die. Like my brain would explode. I rocked at time management but NEWSFLASH: TIME MANAGEMENT ISN’T EVERYTHING. It isn’t about how much you can fit into a day. It’s about what you fit into a day.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I was great at college.

I was great at scheduling social time.

Pumpkin carving with CJ and dancing (always a necessity) and making Halloween costumes with Genoa and Lauren were all on the agenda above. I had great friends, and I still have the same great friends. I LOVED college because of all the amazing memories we made together, and our friendship could survive based on those memories alone if it had to.

I was great at working.

GOD I was so good at working! Because I had to be. I had seven jobs in college. SEVEN. That is not bragging or exaggerating, that’s me being for real. I supported myself through college and I had to make dat moneyyyy.

I was great at school.

I loved learning, I loved studying at the library, I loved getting good grades to prove to the world that I AM SO GOOD AT LIFE! Look at me go! And I got Summa Cum Laude and I was like hellllllsssss yeah. Nothing can stop me now!

If I had to do it all over again… I would do the same things.

Because I’ve seen Butterfly Effect and that shiz scared me. And because I am so grateful that all the decisions I made then got me to where I am now.

If I had to tell somebody else how to do it, though, that’s a different story.

I was great at scheduling social time, but I had ZERO me time.

There were times where I would literally sleep in the same bed as my roommate (we had no heater, it was freezing, we did this for survival, but still) aka never was alone ever. If I was ever by myself, I napped. I was alone when I drove, and I made a lot of solo road trips in college, but I always blared music and, apparently, couldn’t bare the idea of just being alone with my own thoughts.

I was great at working, but I didn’t have to work that hard.

I wanted to feel important and grown up and independent. What I didn’t realize was that I was important and grown up and independent- regardless if I took an extra shift, worked late hours into the night, or went from scrubs from one job, to a pencil skirt in the next. But, you know, I can’t say I should have done it differently because freaking school is expensive.

I was great at school, and WHO THE EFF CARES.

Good LORD. Yes. I graduated Summa Cum Laude (let’s just say that twice in one blog post for effect, shall we?), but has anyone ever asked me to even show them my degree? No less my GPA? I know I have a special circumstance- I work for myself – but I would’ve been just fine with a 3.5, I really didn’t need a 3.7. I don’t even use my freaking degree, and I spent hours pining over astronomy so that I could get an A and boost my GPA and I should’ve been at the freaking beach. I still know nothing about astronomy, but I did get an A.

Take aways:

Socialize, like a lot.

These are the memories you will have forever and ever. Those memories are deposits into your happiness bank. And you can withdrawal and withdrawal and it will never deplete. You can sit for a whole day and reminisce and smile being like “Thank God I did that then, because there’s no way I could go out seventeen nights in a row now.” ALSO: I AM NOT SAYING GO DRINK A LOT. I didn’t drink in college (still don’t), which probably contributed to my ability to socialize A LOT. Dancing five nights a week, etc. So socialize a lot, but don’t be a freaking idiot.

Put in some me time.

Get to know yourself alone. Stare at a wall. Go on walks or drive in silence or sit by yourself at a coffee shop and figure out why it makes you uncomfortable. You will be more confident, less stressed, and happier. Guaranteed.

Work, but not too much.

Make the money you need to make, then don’t worry about the rest. You’re not in college to save.

Study, but not too much.

Learn the things you want to learn, and then be (like kind of) diligent about the rest. Get good grades but don't stress about it. You might be in college to get an education, but that education isn’t in textbooks. (Ugh I guess A LITTLE BIT of it is, but you get my point.)

If you could have a college life just like mine, that would be incredible. But the Lord has brought me down upon this earth to tell you all the ways you can do it even better. You lucky soul, you.