I’m a student, but I’ll only be young once!

While in first and second year, college seemed more like a simulation of what we believed college would look like, however, becoming upperclassmen shifts that reality slightly. I remember in first year, as I dragged myself to a 9am lecture after having gone out the night before, I saw what was supposedly  a group of final years waiting for the Berkeley to open and I thought to myself, “why would you possibly choose to come to the library so early?” Lo and behold, currently in my third year, I routinely get to the library at 9am while partying is now only reserved for truly celebratory occasions. As college becomes more “serious” and college takes up more and more of my time, I can’t help but wonder, am I missing out on my youth because I want to do well at university?

For many of us, attending college after graduating could be considered the norm, and while this gives us ample opportunities to figure out what we want to do later in life, the path it puts us on is oftentimes restricted: go to university, maybe do a master’s degree and then find a job. While finishing college is a joyous occasion, the dreaded question of “What next?” looms over everyone’s head. Endless possibilities are at our fingertips, but only a handful of them are truly palpable. While a lot of us would rather spend a year travelling through Asia, that is oftentimes not realistic. So, while we could spend our study breaks in the library researching how to best backpack the Gold Coast, we look into internships, and get caught up in the endless cycle of application forms and interviews. Thus, the shackles and privileges of third level education might leave us asking what our duty to ourselves is. Live life to the fullest without adhering to societal expectations of what people our age should be doing or embrace the safety of this pre-ordained path, while fully aware that some things are being missed out on?

What sheds some light on this topic is hearing final-year students talk about their time in college. Either they look back on college life with nostalgia as they are coming down with a serious case of senioritis, or maybe they simply realise the worth of appreciating where we currently are in life — stopping to smell the roses, as some might say. None of them seem to dwell extensively on the stress of grades and exams — or they just do a good job at hiding it. They would rather spend their weekends going for swims in the sea, hiking in Howth, or simply catching up with friends. I was talking to a friend who recently started working as a barrister after years of studying, first for an undergraduate degree, then a master’s, then the bar. When I asked her for any advice, I definitely did not expect to be told that I should party more while in college. Heeding these nuggets of wisdom might be beneficial as the consensus of final years and college graduates alike seems to be that they never wish they had studied more, but rather enjoyed their youth more. So maybe we should try and learn something from them and adopt a more laissez-faire attitude towards college. 

We all know “balance” is key when it comes to having a lot on one’s plate, however this is all easier said than done. For many students, balancing college, a part time job, and a social life is the norm and it can oftentimes get too overwhelming and perpetuate the feeling that there is no time left to pursue the things that might make us really happy. In times where essays are due, exams are looming and college work seems to haunt us wherever we go, it can be hard to try and implement what everyone’s cliche advice when complaining of stress is — do one thing at a time. Knowing when to turn your laptop, as well as your brain, off is becoming increasingly difficult in today’s society, which seems to praise overworking oneself until burnout, but we all need to learn to work a little less and make more time for ourselves.