Since everyone is speaking about the theme "back to school", I thought it was a good idea to tell you about my experience while in College. Some of you may still be in High School, some are going to College and some have finished it already. Either way, I think we all learn something with our experiences and one thing I'm sure everyone agrees is that college teaches you a thing or two about life. This is why I'm here today to tell you about the lessons I've learned in College. In any way the things I went through can coincide with the things you will or went through. We all have different experiences and while some say those are the best years of their life, others were glad it was over. What I'm about to say is my experience on the subject and I'm sure some of you will agree on some points and disagree on others. 

It's ok not to know what you want

When I first had to choose which degree to take, I was absolutely confused. I was only 17 at the time, how was I supposed to know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? I knew I loved writing and I wanted something that would give me different options in the future, so that's why I chose Communication. My degree could be distributed into different areas: Journalism, Marketing, Advertisement and Communication. I found out later that I was not really into Journalism and that made me think that I chose the wrong degree because basically 95% of my class wanted to become some type of Journalists. The University knew it was normally like that so they kind of discriminated the non journalists students. Even though we had multiple type of subjects, the journalism ones were the focus so that just made me want to go back in time. Meanwhile I was in the same University as my boyfriend and he was taking a Marketing degree. For some reason (actually I just wanted to spend more time with him) I started attending his Marketing classes and it finally clicked, "this is something I really like". I was already in my 2/3 year of my degree and I didn't want to lose my scholarship so I just stayed where I was. If I regret not changing degrees? Sometimes, but fortunately I wasn't in a degree that couldn't let me choose some marketing like career so it's not that bad. The only thing I really regret was not fighting for a school internship in Marketing (there were no marketing options since everyone wanted journalism basically). The lesson here is that maybe you'll find yourself wondering why you didn't choose something else. You've two options: fight for what you really want or just stay where you are and try and appreciate it the best way you can. At least, you're trying to do something for yourself.

The people from high school will be the same people from college

Something everyone says is "at least I don't have to deal with high school people". Wrong, you will. People from high school will also go to college and don't expect them to change because they probably won't. I realized that some of my college mates were, in fact, worse than my high school ones. There will always be some mean people, it doesn't matter whether you're in high school, college or even working. Those type of people will always be around the corner and you just have to know who is worth your time. 

You won't be friends forever

Also something I've heard multiple times is "College friends will stay". If you're someone lucky enough to find that sentence true, well I'm glad you've good friends! In my experience, that couldn't be more farther than the truth. I've made a couple of friends (and lost others) while in college, but when we graduated and everyone went home or started working somewhere else, we drifted apart. That's not something necessarily bad, life happens and some people are not supposed to stay and that's fine. Friends come and go and if you stayed friends with everyone you meet then maybe you wouldn't be giving the importance you give your friends now. 

Don't change who you are to fit

I was never a party type of girl. I don't like to drink and I sure as hell don't like the mess of night clubs. I have nothing against it and I've some friends that are party animals but that's just not who I am. I didn't think that was going to be a problem but hell, it was. Most people were getting drunk all the time and going out basically every time they could and don't get me wrong, everyone is free to do whatever they want, the problem was that they thought there was something wrong with me. I even once got someone saying to my face that I shouldn't be taking a communication degree because I was "totally not a communicative person". I mean, do I need to go to parties to be a journalist? I don't think so. 

I felt rejected, it was hard for me to be with the same people everyday and seeing people I cared for changing in front of my eyes because they wanted to "fit" in. It wasn't ok, we were not in high school anymore and we shouldn't be pressured to be someone we were not. Fortunately I had a nice group of friends, they were mostly guys because I got to know them through my boyfriend, but they were understanding. We would go out to dinner, they would drink as much as they wanted to and then they would be totally okay if I was not up to go to a club, I mean, sometimes they would just buy drinks to drink wherever I was ok with being. My point is, don't change the things you like or who you're to fit in. If people don't accept you for who you are, why would you want to change? They never liked the real you anyway. 

Focus on your studies

I know college is the time for all the different kind of experiences you were to young to do when you were in a high school, but remember what you are there for. In most of the countries, getting a college degree isn't free. Most of us are there because our parents or someone is paying for it and we should appreciate it. At least, for me, I knew I was there because I had people helping me financially so I had to at least do good in my studies. The stuff I was learning will be the information I'll need to remember when I start a job in the field, so why just waste all of that? If you do, one day you'll regret the chance you had in learning something that could help you somehow. There has to be a balance between studying and getting to experience things, and you've to learn what's the best way to do that for you. 

Which were the lessons you learned from college? I'd love to hear about your experiences so feel free to tell them!