College life and goals...meaning of life

From Todaycollegetour

So, you know how you asked me to think what really is important to me? Well, I thought about it, and I think I found what I needed. 

To date, I use to think that grades were important. But why? My perfect 4.0 GPA was important to me. The grades I made in all my classes mattered. I wanted to be perfect. I wanted to be involved in every organization, club…essentially everything. And I know what you are thinking. I’m crazy. And I was. [Pause] So I decided I needed to figure out not to let school control my life. I also needed a life. Now, while I also was able to hang out with friends during this bombardment time of work, I felt that something was missing. Me. I was missing from the picture.

You know what I mean? Like I was there…but I was missing. I was a mere being in a room full of “others.” What do you do with that?

So, I thought about it. I wondered why grades were always so important to me; why I had to be involved in everything; why it seemed I have something to prove? And, essentially it boiled down to the fact I wanted to prove to my family, and most of all to myself I was good enough. But, I don’t need to do that. My family is proud of me, and I am proud of myself for what I have accomplished just thus far.

Grades aren’t everything. Joining every organization isn’t everything. College is about having fun right? [Pause] I mean, this is where you are suppose to find yourself. How do you find yourself if you are totally submerged in everything else?[Pause] So, although I say grades don’t care, I know deep inside they still do, but they aren’t everything, grades aren’t deep down what matters most.

This is the time to enjoy life. To make your best friends. To become who you are, and what you want to be. So what is written on paper isn’t everything…right? Self-discovery is important.

I heave learned a lot these past couple of years in college. While although I am still on a process to finding out what I believe in, and who I am, I certainly am no longer the high-schooler who must be the “perfect” golden child. Grades are still important, but I no longer feel I have to be the best at everything I do. I mean my OCD tendencies will tell me to perfect it, but essentially it is not a lost cause if I come in second every once in a while.

I guess it came along with the individualistic drive that society has molded for us. Everyone wants to be the best. But when is the best out of reach? When do we realize that the “best” is not always going to happen? [Pause] I have come to accept this view, and while it may not be easy, I think my life will become a lot easier.

College is a time of experimenting, living, enjoying the moments we have. Grades are important, but so is self-discovery. And essentially, that is what college is about. College is a place where you can…where you can grow, learn, experience, and in the end find yourself.  And that is what I have come to accept, not that grades are important when you walk across the stage at the end, but that life, discovery, self-discovery is what is important. I mean they always say you find your best friends at college….and with those best friends you also find yourself.