I agree that you have to accept each experience for itself. You can drive a Ford or a BMW, and you are going to end up in the same place, but one experience will be more enjoyable (to some people who care, not really to me).
My daughter played her sport in high school because she liked it, not because she was looking to play in college. She does, in fact, play but didn’t decide to even look at college teams until just before senior year. If she had decided not to play in college, it wouldn’t have changed her high school experience.