College Life- Expectations Vs Reality

My first day in the hostel was a memorable one. Whilst I began looking around my new home and the new people, I came across a mirror in the hallway. OMG! I had developed wings, wings of freedom, wings to glide into a new life, wings to fly much higher than the school life. I was in college now, I could really live what was the talk of the town throughout class twelfth. Not even six months after that day, I went home to find my younger cousins looking towards me in awe as now I was a college girl. Surprisingly enough, I couldn’t understand why for my wings weren’t there anymore. With those wings, what disappeared were my misconceptions about college life.

Watch Student of the year or Mean Girls and you will develop a very interesting yet ‘too good to be true’ image of the college life. Well, colleges don’t really offer what movies say they do. With a million movies and Series made on colleges, you can rarely find one part realistic enough to relate to your life.

The high school students put in all their efforts to get a good college, for what they believe (or maybe, are told) is that college life is easier. There will be less of studies more of fun parties and drama; wearing your choice of clothes, no one to stop you from night outs and class bunks and a chance to explore the world as an adult. Though it can certainly be said that if all these wishes of yours are being fulfilled in an Indian college, wake up because you are definitely dreaming.

Shattering the hopes of waking up late in the morning, getting dressed and looking nice everyday are the 8 am classes and waiting for you with a trishul in his hand and horns on his head is the teacher willing to throw you out if you are late. While I was in school, not attending classes in college was never a big deal, ‘It happens all the time’ I’d say, unaware of the sword of minimum attendance criteria hanging over the head to clear a subject.

Exams, projects and tests become frequent guests in your life, that too the kind you cannot satisfy as you don’t have the resources to welcome them. I wish it all ended here, but all that extra work and studies you need to get a good job just reminds me how all the parents of the world decided to lie to their children and tell them “Just work hard for your entrance, your life will be easy if you get a good college”.

College life is a bush, where there are thorns but the experiences, friendships and fun add roses to this bush. It is something to look forward to but I’d suggest “Don’t get your hopes up, for college life is not all roses”.