Four Years

Said to be the best years of your life or four of the most important in determining who you are, the time span of college passes in a flash. It's the second semester of junior year and it already feels like freshman year was just yesterday. Going in, one of the most memorable pieces of advice was "Bring weed and Jack Daniels with you in your suitcase. Everyone will love you!" This coming from Adam, a real estate agent in one of Brooklyn's biggest landmarks. No, I didn't pack that in my suitcase but the point of that advice was to live it up. He had ended that conversation by telling me, basically when you get out, you have to grow up and when you grow up shit gets crazy. And now, fast-forwarding three years later, I find myself transitioning out of the desire to party all the time and into a more preparatory mind frame. Everyone gets you ready to go in but no one prepares you to come out.

I read an article from Entrepreneur about how my generation isn't prepared to fail. We're full of working abilities and ideas but we're not set up to deal with the obstacles if those ideas don't pull through. I'm a futuristic thinker so I'm always looking ahead, which is a strength and a downfall, but I can't help but feel that a lot of people in my age bracket aren't equipped to deal with life after school. When the four years pass, life doesn't have to be fearful if you set yourself up from now to deal with it. I'm not saying to disregard the present. In fact, the present is what sets up your future.

My Selling Concepts and Strategies professor told us "College promises you a degree but it doesn't promise you a W2." Your four years should be about having fun, being involved in extracurriculars/things that relate to what you want your career to be, and making the most out of that tuition money. That's the best balance.