Don’t force the college experience

This isn’t an advice column.

In fact, if there’s one thing you get out of reading this, it’s that you’re a college kid now, and it’s probably time to start listening to yourself a little bit.

Let me backtrack — welcome to Utah State. You’re about to spend the next couple of years surrounded by a group of people pursuing a variety of lifelong dreams and working to better themselves, and that’s a cool thing. There are so many positives to being in this special phase of your life, at a university as unique as this one. So in an effort to help you get as much out of this college experience as you can, I’m begging you — don’t force it.

There’s this popular notion that college is as much about “the college experience” as it is about a degree, as if there’s a bucket list of necessary college experiences one must enjoy or else they missed out. There isn’t. The fear of missing out on stuff phase of your life ended the day you graduated high school, when you almost immediately realized high school maybe wasn’t that big of a deal.

There isn’t a four-year plan for squeezing every drop of fun out of your college years — and if you try, you’re going to spend a lot of time not actually having any fun at all.

The college experience is what happens to you when you start learning about yourself. I get that sort of sounds abstract, but honestly it’s tough to make memorable experiences without discovering what exactly it is you want. As much as I hate the phrase “you do you,” it applies here.

You may step into your first class positive that exercise science is your life’s calling, and walk down Old Main four years later with a Marketing degree. Your priorities might shift from looking for a cute makeout buddy to just finding someone who shares your taste in music. That’s easier said than done, by the way.

You may be one of those students who goes all-out for the Howl every year. You could be one of the crazies that camps outside of the Spectrum for Aggie basketball’s opening game, even if it’s just the preseason. Nothing wrong with that — every school needs those fans. The point is, the college experience isn’t about checking off things you haven’t done in order to feel like you got the most out of your time here.

You’re going to get whatever you go for, whether that means grades or a busy social life or a degree in a competitive major. But don’t stress out about missing things. Life’s going to happen to you while you pursue those things you came to USU for in the first place.

So take the time to figure things out about yourself. Things are going to change for you in the next four years. You’ll make new friends, foolishly cut class for a Beto’s burrito, and possibly take a friend to the emergency room for accidentally microwaving a fork. The point is, it’s all going to happen in time.

The maturation process is weird that way.

Don’t worry about what you may be missing out on, and don’t search aimlessly for a college experience you think everyone else is having — figure out what it is you want and do it. You can change it anytime.

— Logan Jones is a junior who shifted his major four times before settling on journalism, and is still trying to take his own advice by figuring out exactly what he’s going to do with that after graduating. Respond to his columns by contacting him at logantjones@aggiemail.usu.edu or on twitter @Logantj.