I am currently a Student at Indiana University. College for me has been an up and down experience. I have had to come back to the South Bend campus because I did poorly in classes pertaining to a major that just didn't fit me. It is difficult at times being back in my home town since I was away from it for an entire year. Though that doesn't matter right now this blog is about the upside of my college experience. Other than the bad grades college has been a huge eye opening experience.
My first year of college I attended school in Bloomington, IN. There are so many great things about Bloomington, there is so much nature to see and the city itself is so full of life and hope and dreams. I can really see this now that I have had to come back to Elkhart IN which is the exact opposite of Bloomington. I love going back to visit on the weekend to see my friends and my girlfriend there.
The good side of college has been for me the fact that I have been able to see a side of the world that I never could in Elkhart. At IU I was able to meet and speak with cultures that I would have never encountered. I have spoken with people who come from a place thousands of miles away with a culture that is completely opposite to what I call "normal". I'm a typical midwest American I liked sports and TV as well as good home cooked meals, but until I went to college did I really start to appreciate more in life. I've tried food with ingredients you wouldn't want to speak about and talked to people who come from somewhere who think that I am backward because I like to eat something out of a box.
The diversity of conversation has also been a wonderful change from my hometown. One second I can be talking about quantum mechanics and the next an in depth conversation about the current political or economic situation. When I am at home I have to keep my thoughts to myself more than I do in Bloomington. College is a melting pot for future great minds and you can never be sure how the person sitting next to you is going to affect the world one day.
When I first went to college I took it for granted, I didn't see the importance of it or just how much it would mean to me until I had found out that a class had gone so poorly that I would have to come back home. Now today I daydream everyday about it as I work toward going back there this summer. I have learned that I can take any direction that I wish in life and that with college experience I can go anywhere I want and do anything that I put my mind to. Indiana University has become my my new home and I look forward to the day I can call it my Alma Mater. College is a stage in life that I think is important in every young persons life and allows them to postpone entering a world with harsh realities. It has been a special time and as much as I want to start to make a life for myself I want to stay and take everything I can from the years I spend in college.
These are just a few of the things that are wonderful about every day I have spent in a state university. Every person I know in college has already begun to create wonderful memories and friendships that can last a life time. If anyone asked me if they said college was one of the most important things in life I would completely agree.
