The Peak of Your Life

You’re 18 or 19. Just finished school. Applied to a lot of top-notch colleges, but got into a mediocre one you didn’t really want to get into.

This was the same thing that happened to me, and to almost everyone except a few people who studied their souls out. When it was my first day at college, I was quite happy. Happy because finally, I got to get away from home. I had taken a drop year to study but didn’t really make the most of it. Gap years are hard all right. Props to people taking two gap years. I admire your spine.

College years are probably among the most influential years of your life. They can either make you, break you, or at least leave you with enough stories to sound interesting at dinner. Newfound freedom, hormones, and peers hit you hard.

Some tips:

1. Choose who you hang out with wisely. There are a lot of different minds roaming around in a university. Be picky about the group you choose, because chances are you’ll end up getting influenced by them.
2. GPA doesn’t matter. GPA matters. Whatever suits you. It matters to someone who wants to pursue higher education. It doesn’t matter as much to someone who already has their life together. If you don’t know where your life is headed, you should probably be getting a decent score, because you may end up doing something related to your degree anyway.
3. There will come a time when you’ll doubt the entirety of your college degree. That time will pass. Unless you chose your degree because of someone else, in which case you should calmly rethink your entire life.
4. Travel. You’re near the peak of your health. It will only get worse from here as a consequence of the quality time you spend lazing around all day, eating junk food that should have taken legal action against your organs. So make the most of it and travel to new places. Preferably trekking, because let’s be honest, you need it.
5. Call home. In the end, family is the only thing that sticks, even when you pretend you are too independent to pick up.
6. Sometimes go with the decision that will make for a good story. College is about making memories you will want to tell your kids but won’t, because you’ll be too busy warning them against the exact same activities.
7. Stand up for what you think is right, no matter how many people oppose you. A person without principles is nothing. Do make sure your principles are actually worthwhile and not just stubbornness wearing formal shoes.

Bonus: Know your limit. It’s no fun waking up to your dad’s call and slowly realizing you apparently drunk-dialed him last night.