Six Ways that College Transitions Us

The average student graduates in four years. They come in straight from high school at about eighteen and embark on a new season of life: college. But what they don't consider immediately is how this season will be thrusting them towards a new one, a more permanent one, in a quick eight semesters. Suddenly, it's graduation day and, looking back, an entirely new person has arisen inside of the once immature and unexperienced high school grad. So what ways should we be keeping a lookout for? Just how are we being transitioned over time into the people we will be when we walk across another stage?

1. We learn to cope with major responsibility. Most teens have little stress over having a busy schedule and deadlines to keep up with. Once college kicks in, we are loaded down with papers, exams, and major requirements that boost our capability to handle loads of important pressures in the real world.

2. We are also gaining work ethic this way. We gradually come to terms with the fact that more studying and harder working rewards with better grades and success. Therefore, when having significant need to provide for a family or even just for yourself, you are set with priorities in mind and the ability and motivation to do what must be done.

3. Aside from pushing us towards something new, college pulls us from something old and ready for retirement. Without even realizing it, we are becoming less childish in our actions, desires, and mindsets. For example, have you yet caught yourself turning in early simply because you know that you have somewhere to be early?

4. As we stray from the kid living in us, we reach for someone new to emerge. As we do this, we are slowly becoming someone altogether different. We become comfortable in our skin and at ease with who we are. We set our own standards and use this as the guideline for what we ought to pass, rather than the approval of others. College helps us to reveal our true self.

5. Meanwhile, we are gaining vision. A clear and realistic vision for our lives. We think beyond our graduation and plan ahead. We decide what values are important to us and what we do not want to pursue. Within four years, we go from caring about what to do on a weekend to caring more about what sort of standards we want to set in our homes.

6. Another major transition is status. A large number or students meet their spouses in college. Meeting this person will automatically change the outlook on life. We accept compromise and we draw from their perspective of what we are planning for after those four years end.

College can be a time to party...or a time to grow. Usually, we start with the former and end up with the latter, whether we realize it or not.