It’s a common thing to hear that college is supposed to be the best years of your life. That idea is not without its merits ó this is very likely the only place you’ll spend this much time primarily with people of around the same age, independent from both parents and a large chunk of the legalities and formalities of what is commonly referred to as “the real world.”
This is supposedly the last place where it will be fairly easy to make friends, the last place you’ll be able to party as often, and definitely the last place where the harshest consequence of public inebriation is some sort of ticket and a talk with the J-Board. It’s the last place you’ll be able to go to various live performances for little to no monetary cost, and the last place that it will be fairly easy to be a part of those performances. College is supposedly the last chance to do a lot of things before you have to deal with paying for it.
That said, I don’t fully buy into it as the best four years of my life. I’ve had a fantastic time here, but to say that is kind of a downer on the future, isn’t it? “I’ve had the best years of my life, it’s all down hill from here.” No, I think I’m still at a place where things can get better. I mean, when you think about it, college can be a real drag sometimes. You never truly have your own space, even if you happen to have a single. There’s very little choice in what you eat, even with Lowry’s so-called “variety” (read: different kinds of chicken). And then, of course, there’s all those pesky classes.
I look back on my four years here with very few regrets, and none of them have to do with missing out on some part of “the college experience.” I’ve had some great moments that could probably never happen anywhere else. I’ve participated in a PokÈmon tournament with a bunch of 20-year-olds. I’ve played a demon in a staged production of the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I have been a section editor of a newspaper ó lord knows that’s not happening again in any professional way. I’m going to miss a lot of things about my time here at Wooster, but never in so great a way that I wouldn’t feel that getting out into the world isn’t better. It’s time to leave this stage of life behind, and take the next step.