It's graduation season, and graduates (both high school and college) are probably hearing the usual nostalgic proclamations: "Enjoy it… your college years are the best of your life." No matter who you are, someone is sure to profess that the student is experiencing the pinnacle of their life. It better not be.
This post originally appeared on Dappered .
That's not to say that your late teens or early twenties spent at a university can't be a blast. Far from it. But high school and college… it ain't real. You're still leashed. Fenced in. There are bumpers in your gutters and training wheels bolted to your back axle.
You don't have anywhere the level of control you get afterward. You're simply not able to make all the decisions you'd like to. Whether it's the required gen-ed courses you're forced to take, what the heck the dining hall is serving that day, or what time that class is offered this semester. Even your last name—your family, siblings, and your parents reputation in the community—can box you in. Self-starters and creators can feel suffocated in the structure of high school, college, and early adulthood.
Control = Decisions + Effort.
Control + Time = Whatever the hell you want.
People who tell high schoolers and college students that "these are the best of years of your life" thrived when they didn't have control. That's not good.
If your life peaks in high school or college, you've either had terrible luck, or, you've blown it. And if you've blown it, it's never too late to retake some of that control by making different decisions.
For the grads or soon to be grads, if someone looks you in the eye and utters the "this is/was the best time of your life" garbage, nod and smile. And know that even if it was awesome, it absolutely gets better.
No more fences. Go. Do.
Why believing "College is the best time of your life" is wrong | Dappered
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Image adapted from Leremy (Shutterstock).
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