5 Myths About College Life You Cannot Stop Hearing

I remember the time when I was about to join college and was flooded with unsolicited advice from everywhere in my social circle. Even those who were remotely concerned with my welfare accosted me to tell me about what lies ahead. Why? Because going to college is a major life-changing event—you are suddenly into a world of young adults where you are expected to make decisions on your own.

It is true that the relevance of college experience cannot be understated. However, many times you would come across stereotypes or myths about college experiences that you are forced to think. When I was fresh in college, I was very much influenced by a few myths, and I think I should tell you about them.

Here are 5 myths about college life which you should stop believing for your own sake.

Time to party!

If I had got paid on the number of times people told me that college is all about parties, I would have been a billionaire in my first year of college. Most of you would relate with me on this; college life, many say, is about parties and parties alone. They cannot be farther from the truth.

I admit that college life gives you more room than ever to go out and have fun. There is greater discretion on your part—with all the money coming in from home, you can simply categorize your expenses as “college expenses” and party. But,  trust me, college life is much more than parties.

You have lectures to attend, attendance to maintain, projects to execute, deadlines to meet, and so many other things. You can party in between, but you cannot undermine the role these other things have. I remember my first year of college when the first month was all about socializing and parties, and the last month was all about meeting deadlines and preparing for exams.

You Will Lose A Lot of Friends

I have to admit that I lost quite a number of friends back in college, but that is a purely personal experience. When you first enter college, you want to socialize and be friends with people. You are rather hasty in decision-making—and that is okay because that is how you learn.

As time passes by, you are able to assess your equation with people. Some may fit in and some may not. But, this should not mean that you will end up in a series of betrayals, fights and bitching. No! You might end up having great relationships.

As I said, relationships are personal experiences. I know a lot of my batchmates who still have their college group intact. So, this “you will lose them” slogan does not apply to everyone.

You are on your own

It is quite common to hear college students complain about the quality of the faculty they have. I agree that quality education is not a universal phenomenon, but that does not mean you will not find it anywhere. What I dislike is that college students make statements about faculties indiscriminately because there will be a few good teachers taking their job seriously.

Sometimes, yes, you are on your own—I would not deny that, but this is often taken to unimaginable stretch. College students, especially the younger ones, often consider that they know it all which causes them to not appreciate even those teachers who are hard-working and actually contributing.

Scores are all that count

Yes and no. Yes, because scores highlight how you have been performing in academics. No, because pure academic scores will not take you high.

The point is simple: your academic performance cannot, in isolation, give you an edge in the world. You must brush up your resume through extra-curricular and off-campus engagements in the form of conferences and internships.

You will hear it from many that it is impossible to make it good in the world outside if you do not have a shimmering GPA. This is not necessarily the case.

You will not be able to get a good night sleep

It is quite a scary myth—but it is a myth. There are many reasons why you might not get proper sleep: exams, Netflix and chill, chit-chatting with friends and roaming around the streets late at night. College life does not inevitably require you to forego sleep; it is up to you how you want to organize your schedule.

Back in college, I used to sleep late whereas my roommate slept early. We used to share an exact amount of workload yet she slept early. It is because she prioritized work differently: her goal was to wake up early and get done with work; mine was to wake up late and get done with work at night.

Anyway, I, as a matter of fact, never had many opportunities when I had to forego sleep. So, it is a myth that college life equates to the loss of sleep.

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