college life

high school is told to be the time of your life. maybe its because when you're in high school you are still allowed to be "young" and completely unaware of the real world and all sense of responsibility. your house, the bed you sleep in, the food you eat - costs you nothing. your parents are in a sense employed to supply for your every need. you have problems, but they pass. yes, high school was a good time - filled with care-free nights, and homework that rarely ever took longer than 10 minutes. basketball games, dances, picnics, surrounded by familiar faces - if you didn't know them, you at least probably recognized them.

there is a world filled with experiences that are almost all completely brand-new. no longer do you go from your home to school but rather your school is your home. the mattress that makes up your bed has been previously slept on - it is not really your own. your room is no longer a private space - it is shared with someone you most likely have just met. you rarely ever see a familiar face in the first stages of this new life. and still after time, it is a ray of light to see someone you recognize. oh and wait, here comes a big one - you are completley on your own. stop. not a little bit. not for some things. you are completely, 100% responsible for everything. you want to go out on a wednesday night but you have homework? hmm. well mom isn't there to say you can't. you can if you want. you can blow off as much school as you want, and no body is going to care. your professors do not know you. you know in high school you would play games so you and the teacher could learn everyone's names? yea that doesn't happen anymore. professors are there to teach, not to get personal. if you miss a day of class they will not come up to you when you return and tell you what you missed or ask where you have been. you are responsible for figuring it out on your own. and you know all those people you "left behind"? well they are still part of your life, and they still mean something to you. but they are somewhere else and you have no control or part in anything that happens where they are. surprising things will happen and you will have no idea until they tell you - and once they tell you, you are still alone on your own dealing with it - unable to have any say in it.

welcome to college. where life could be a constant party and no one would ever have to know - because no one is here to care. you are here to shape the rest of your entire life. sound simple? nah i didn't think so. your future is at stake and it is left in your hands. you can rely completely on your opinion and impulses and see how well it turns out. but thats a lot of decisions to make on your own free will. but are you willing to put in the effort it takes to get involved in the right kind of things? are you willing to make your spiritual walk an important part of your life? your parents, the friends who were there to encourage you aren't there anymore to hold you accountable - are you going to be strong enough to stay on the right path. or will frustration get the best of you?

college is an amazing experience. don't take what has been said above the wrong way. you finally have the opportunity to find out who you are without any previous "ties" influencing your life. you can choose who you want to hang out with, and what you want to do. the options are endless and the choice - well its yours to make. be careful though - its a lot of power. test it out carefully, and use it a little at a time until you know what you can do with it - and where that power can lead to. remember this is more than just another chapter in life - it is the rising action. it is going to shape you to who you are going to become.