College is an interesting concept — a bunch of young adults are all in one place together. Strangers living together, studying together, learning and finding their best friends.

There are people from all over, not just from other states, but other countries as well.

We pick a place and assume that is where we are going to be for the next four years, or at the very least the next year.

This is probably the first time most people are away from home for an extended period of time. It is a time for learning and finding your own groove — finding what interests you and becoming who you want to be.

Everyone’s experience is different; there isn’t just one singular way to have the college experience. A lot of people get this idea in their head of what college is going to look like –– or is supposed to look like –– when in reality it can be different for everyone.

Some people are learning how to do laundry or cook, while others are trying to break out of their shell and make new friends.

Probably one of the weirdest concepts is random roommates. Generally, it’s two random people living in the same room and sharing a bathroom with, like, 30 other people.

It’s just very odd to think about a bunch of strangers living together.

With that, while we are technically adults and seen that way, we are still under supervision. It isn’t our parents anymore, but there are resident assistants and hall directors still looking after us.

We aren’t allowed to use candles or plug-in air fresheners because they could start a fire, but people burn stuff in the microwave all the time.

Even though we are technically adults, we are not fully trustworthy yet, I guess.

College is the time to find out what you enjoy and who you want to be, but you do not need to have it all figured out yet. 

It is interesting to see how people change and grow while they are in college. Who you are at the beginning of freshman year is not going to be the same as the person you are when you graduate.

We grow, learn and evolve as people.

I really enjoy college. I have made a lot of friends, gone through good and bad times — which I overcame – and so much more.

Maybe instead of thinking about it as the college experience, it should be seen as college being the experience. That way you are less focused on having a specific experience and more focused on doing your own thing and letting college itself be the experience.

Thinking about college from an outside perspective is compelling. I encourage you to go out and try something new. Create your own college experience and slowly figure out who you want to become.

Geske can be reached at [email protected].