5 Lessons I Learned During College
In just a few months, I will be graduating from BU, so I wanted to take a moment to reflect onwhat these past few years have taught me. Here are some of the most important lessons I’ve learned that I want to share with you!
LESSON #1
Have something that will always remind you of your priorities
Every once in a while, set aside time to reflect on your priorities and ask yourself- are you putting those things first? Or are you forgetting what’s important to you? It can be as simple as writing them out and sticking them on the wall or even finding a time once a month to chat with a
friend about what’s important to you and talking through whether or not you’ve been true to those things.I say this because identifying and honing in on what’s important to me has given me a sense of peace. I still get stressed about things, but if I can immediately think about my priorities, I usually end up reminding myself that whatever I was stressed about in that moment isn’t anything to worry about and I can turn my attention towards what matters to me.I think that when your priorities aren’t clearly outlined in your mind, it’s easy for things to get muddled and for you to feel stressed about not doing the things you want and not focusing on the things that matter to you. If you have something to remind you of your priorities, you will always have that guidance to make sure that you’re staying on track with what’s going to make
you feel the happiest and the most fulfilled 🙂
LESSON #2
People are going to come and go in your life and that’s okay!
There’s so much going on during this time in your life that people are going to need more room to grow than may have needed before. All of us are navigating this strange and confusing new world, and that requires space. We’ve all changed and gone through so much and that energy is going to push some people away and pull some people in. And that’s normal and that’s okay. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that sometimes your relationships are going to stretch and you’re
going to experience distance and you’re going to miss them or you might not. But that doesn’t mean that it’s permanent. Relationships are ever changing. Don’t let your worries about relationships changing take your attention away from the new relationships that you have the potential to discover and welcome into your life too!
LESSON #3
Things are inevitably going to change, so don’t worry about the plan
For as long as I can remember, I was always someone that had to have the perfect plan. I had to know exactly what I was doing, and I had to know exactly what I wanted to do in the future. I wanted my life to be set up in a neat and organized linear map, so that I would know what I had to do and where I had to go to succeed. Almost four years ago now, I came into college my freshman year, having this perfect, prewritten idea of what my life was going to look like by senior year. My life right now looks nothing like that. But that’s okay! Things change and shift everyday! And because of that, there’s no need to worry so much about your plan because things are inevitably going to change! So why fret over every tiny detail about your future when you don’t even know what tomorrow is going to bring you? I think this was a really difficult lesson for me to accept at first. I spent months worrying about what I would do after graduation, where I would go, what I wanted to do with my career, but the second I took a breath and let go of my expectations, I found joy and opportunities in places I
didn’t expect.
LESSON #4
Change up your routine with one big thing
This can be anything! But it should be something that will change up your life in a noticeable way! I’m not entirely sure how to explain this, so I’ll just share what I did this year that really changed up my routine and actually ended up having such a positive impact on my life. So even though I am Japanese, all throughout the first three years of college I never joined JSA, or the Japanese Students Association. I was always so busy with other things and I always had
some excuse for why I couldn’t go. However, since it was my senior year, I promised myself that I would go to at least ONE JSA meeting and meet some people. And I am so glad I did because it totally changed the course of how my semester went for the better. I met so many incredible people and am having so much fun being a part of JSA! Take a chance and just do that ONE thing you’ve always wanted to do or make one big change to your routine! You never know what kind of opportunities it’ll bring you, and it might even help
you discover a whole new path you didn’t even know existed for yourself!
LESSON #5
Cut yourself some slack!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this past year, it’s to cut yourself some slack! And offer that same grace to the people around you. Life is hard, and college is hard! There’s a lot going on! I understand how easy it can be to get frustrated at yourself and the people around you. But when those moments happen, take a breath and forgive yourself for not knowing all the answers. Forgive yourself for being confused or mad or upset or whatever you might be feeling. And instead applaud yourself for how far you’ve come and for just doing your best you can at the moment. Your energy is going to flow in different ways in different eras of your life and that’s the way it should be. Recognize that you won’t be on top of things all the time, and that that’s fine! Even if it doesn’t feel like it now, you will eventually find your way. So cut yourself some slack for not
being perfect and not having it figured out 🙂
And with that, those are the 5 most important lessons I’ve learned over the past few years. I hope at least a few of these things resonated with you and that you’ll keep some of these lessons in mind as you embark on your college journey!
Wishing you the best of luck!
Mira
