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I Just Can't Get Excited For College
hopefulhoney
14 replies2 threads Junior Member
Hi all. I am just looking for some advice on my current situation that I just can't get excited for college. For some backstory, I did not get into my top school and it felt like it was meant to be at the time. I found a school that I was comfortable with and honestly I think I made the decision to go there just because I was done with the entire college process. It's a great school, but I am going random for rooming, know no one, and it is pretty far from home. I just can't find myself getting excited the way that my friends are and I just dread going and can't get it off my mind. Does anyone know what I can do to help fix this or just have any tips?
12 replies This discussion has been closed.
Replies to: I Just Can't Get Excited For College
My $.02 - does your school have any social media groups you can join? If so, join them. Get some swag. Watch videos to start getting excited. Go to orientation if it's offered.
FWIW, my D also went out of state, didn't know a soul, and went random with her roommates. It worked out beautifully, and in some cases better than those people who roomed with a friend.
Once you get to campus, get involved in one non academic club or activity. It's a great way to meet people!
You don't have to be chomping at the bit to get to college in order to be excited (just a tiny bit) about all the new possibilities for your life!
My advice is to relax (as best you can) and enjoy your summer. Pack up in August for the next chapter and see what happens. I am a huge believer in the random roommate! It may be a great fit, it might not, but it will be a growth experience either way.
My son was you last year. Really didn't want to go - no excitement. Let's just say he never came home, found great group(s) of friends (he learned at a young age to spread himself around), joined Greek (never in a million years thought he'd do that), did well academically, and is counting the weeks to go back.
It's all good - you're in a good spot!
Therefore, just focus on being open minded and making the most of your time at whatever college you are attending. It's like going to a movie; if you don't expect too much, the movie turns out to be pretty good. But if you expected too much,. the movie usually turns out to be so-so.
Everyone has different perspectives, but for me, several things I am happy about my kid's going to Stanford.
1. Relatively good weather, and he didn't get sick so far.
2. Because Stanford is a rich college, they give good stipends to many summer internships across the world.
3. Because we are located in Southern CA, it's not too bad for us to drive there to help him move out of his dorm or for him to visit home during holidays.
4. Many non-academic ECs through which he learned a lot about putting together conferences and doing market research and making presentation to actual CEO and management for a company located in SF.
I believe you can pursue most of the above items at ANY college, as long as you keep motivated. My kid tells me after his first year that one reason it's easier for him to stay motivated at Stanford is that almost everyone there is highly motivated, and therefore, it's contagious. However, if you can stay motivated and try to make best of your experience at college, you will find great satisfaction at any college.
OP, do you mind sharing what school you're going to? I'm sure there's lots of great things about it -- we can make a list if you want! Even if not, you've already got some great advice. Look through your college's website and their Twitter/Facebook/Instagram; you'll probably find lots of cool clubs, free events, yummy food, awesome classes, pretty buildings, and award-winning professors that will make you feel at least a little better. It also helps to read all the bad reviews about the school that rejected you -- they're probably no good anyway!
A lot of my friends were in the same boat as you (and honestly, so was I for a while), so I know how hard it can be. Hang in there
Agree with supersenior, we know you love to humble brag about you kid getting into Stanford, but it's poor form to bring that up to a kid who did not get into their dream school. You're not helping, that's all I can say.
" Because Stanford is a rich college, they give good stipends to many summer internships across the world."
Your lack of empathy on this thread is astounding. Why don't you tell Pete Best what a loser he is because he couldn't beat out Ringo for being the drummer for the Beatles.
Random roommate is all my kids knew - worked out great for both of them. Far away? Scary but....can be very exciting to make a home in a part of the world/country you don't know well.
I agree with others - look at the course catalog. Join the social media group, if you like that sort of thing. Imagine what you might do in the new area - hike in the country or Walk the new city? Have a coffee in the cute town? Whatever it is.
Agree with others about the helpfulness of the humblebrag....seriously?
Don’t compare yourself to others and if spending a lot of time on social media looking your friends posts about how cool and awesome college is going to be is making you feel like you’re not responding in a normal way, then dump the social media for a while. You do you.