What College Has Taught Me
Like every other college student, it is usually around this time of the semester that I burn out. That I lose my will to work and my yearnings to return to my hometown deepen. Not this time. This time, it’s different. This time, something has changed. Nothing obvious. I still hang out with the same friends, still go to the same school and still take the same subjects. But, my outlook on all of them is nothing like it has ever been.
I am going to let you in on a little secret. When I first chose my college, it was for all the wrong reasons. I wanted the prestige, the money, and the pride. I wanted to be that kid who was deemed ‘successful’ (whatever that means), that had lived up to her promise and that had made her parents proud. Never once did I actually stop and think about the reason why I was attending this school in the first place: the opportunity to learn.
They say knowledge is power, and we say it’s cliche. Its cliche only because it is true. Learning something new, no matter how small, gives you a sense of independence. Be it changing a car tire or understanding quantum mechanics, every little piece of information that is new to you empowers you. And college, at the end of the day, is just a culmination of these little moments of empowerment. At what other point in my life am I going to be surrounded by thousands of curious minds that challenge each other’s thoughts, and get to learn from people who have worked in their fields longer than I have lived? When again are my parents going to pay for me to learn, think, and ask questions about the things that excite me?
Every single moment that I spend within this institution is a privilege. Every single day that I spend here holds endless promise. It is filled with dreams, opportunities, and with the possibility of becoming anything I want it to become.
College has helped me discover this new found love for learning that I never thought I had. Whether it is learning about Human Variation in biology or learning how to test a hypothesis in Data Science, I am excited by the prospect of learning how to think about different things, about learning how to come to my own conclusions, and most importantly, having the confidence to back up my opinions.
Yes, I came to college for all the wrong reasons, but I am staying for all the right ones. I am staying because I want to learn, want to grow, and want to utilize the opportunities being given to me on a silver platter. I am very glad that my journey in college sparked a sense of curiosity in me. This is a spark that I tend to keep alive for as long as I can. And I sincerely hope that you, my dear reader, do too.