College was wonderful. Child rearing was better. Empty nesting is best. I make a huge effort to appreciate each life stage for what it offers. That works best for me. It’s pretty much all in my mind anyways.
Eh. One of the most painful chapters of my life, actually.
Nope. Some good (fun summer job, study abroad), some bad (just the thought of that Smith Corona typewriter triggers PTSD.) Lots of cringe-worthy experiences I wouldn’t want to re-live. No thanks. Grad school I was pregnant the first year, and just going through the motions because I had a baby the 2nd year. Stressful. Every age has its ups and downs. My mid-40s to early 50s was no picnic. I’m nearly 56 now and things seem to be getting better. Though raising a family has been/is a long haul (7 kids here). I’m looking forward to grandchildren. My mom said her 60s were the best time of life!
Eh it was okay. Really enjoyed a couple years, then got a little bit ready to go and do my own thing. Timing was fine, actually.
College was a blast as soon as I was done with my crazy freshman double major course load. 
College really was one of the best seasons of my life. I think it’s where I became who I am today. I had friends in high school, but I was nerdy, bullied and never really felt like I fit in. I also needed to get out from under my parents. I went away to college to study engineering and for the first time in my life, I wasn’t the smartest in the room. I found it easy to make friends. I joined a sorority. I was elected to offices in clubs (something I’d tried - and failed - in high school). My parents refused to support the sorority, so I earned the money needed for dues, and to live in the sorority house my junior and senior years. It was the confidence booster I needed at that point in my life.
I’ve certainly had other good phases, and I think I’m going through another good one now. But I will always look back fondly at my college experience.
It was definitely a time of maturing for me. I made some poor choices in college (and some good ones) but in the end I came out ready to be an adult. Some aspects I reminisced about while our Ds were looking at school were not having to worry about food, the ease of socializing with friends, the attractiveness of the campus and general excitement of belonging to a school and of course meeting my wife. I didn’t miss the studying (or on too many occasions the not studying but worrying about it anyway), the late nights, the noise (especially in the dorms) and the lack of privacy. It was a good season. One I am glad that is done but I will always have fond memories. I agree with others. I think I miss raising my children the most (though teaching someone to drive is an experience I am glad to have past me).
Loved it.
I had a great time in college. I met my H during my last year in college when he came for grad school. We loved the area so much we stayed after graduating and have been here for 38 years!
Every phase is my favorite. I enjoyed college but took a circuitous route and so it wasn’t a traditional experience for me. Not like my kids had. I loved raising my kids. Now I love being an empty nester. Not every moment was wonderful of course, but I can’t think of any time as the best.
Like suzy100, I preferred law school. I took a lot of my mid-late 80s, gen-X disaffection with me to college, along with a tendency to party too hard and too much. I had a good time, made friends I cherish to this day, and somehow squeaked out with a B average, but found my passion and intellect (in addition to friends I cherish to this day) in law school. I make sure to paint a realistic picture for D19. I went to a big state school (OOS for me) - except for the luck of being a “summer flunkie” and making good friends before fall, I would have been miserable freshman year. It’s important they hear about the bad and the good so that they can call on it to power through the inevitable low points.
Best.Years.Of.My.Life!! Loved loved loved my 4 years in college and I was a commuter student that lived at home. But that didn’t put a damper on anything for me. I was involved in a sorority and a lot of other clubs. Ya I was busy, worked a lot to pay my way, but I wouldn’t trade or change those 4 years for anything!! They were great and I had tons of fun!!
Mixed. I was very unhappy in the college I was at for the first two years. Classes were incredibly UNchallenging, and I didn’t fit the social scene.
Like @Hanna , it was much better after I transferred. I was at my BF’s school, which brought a circle of friends I really fit in with, I was in a fabulous, challenging Honors Program, the classes and professors were so much better. Also, it was a classic college town, and a great place to be.
At the same time, for all the four years, I was desperately stressed about money and getting each semester paid for. So I was very glad when it was over and I’d actually gotten through (though with a lot of loans on my part and my mother’s part.)
So yeah, mixed. I wanted my kids to have the perfect college experience. My D, despite all my experience and researching, ended up at a school she hated, but then transferred to one she considered perfect, so she had a perfect three/fourths of college. My S had personal issues and was probably not in the right place for him though there was a lot of the extremely challenging academics that he loved, so his experience was bittersweet. He did drop out senior year, but came back six years later to finish and graduate. Very mixed.
So I agree with not setting them up for “perfect” and understanding that even with better understanding and knowledge, you can’t control for everything.
yes and no. I liked the freedom but I felt as if I lived out of a suitcase for a long time. It took me awhile to find some good roommates. I wish I had studied more but overall I had a good education and I learned a lot. I preferred law school. The problem with law school is that I thought the guys would be less sexist since they had more education and was shocked at how bad it could be. But, it was better since it was exactly what I wanted to do.
OMG techmom99 is me. I literally only remember one name from college and it is one that is hilariously easy to remember. Not because we were great buds.
I absolutely loved college. I was fortunate to have a great group of friends right off the bat, all living right on the hall of my freshman dorm. From the beginning, I knew I was going to study abroad spring semester of my junior year. However, none of my large group of friends were going to. Most were accounting majors and couldn’t. I was having such a blast fall semester that year, that I suddenly started having doubts about leaving my friends behind and being the only one missing out on everything. Boy, was I lucky I didn’t change my mind. Not only was the study abroad experience one of the most rewarding of my life, but my friends back at home had their hardest semester while I was gone - they rarely did anything social, were studying all the time, and from what they told me, were almost miserable that semester! Since I was not in the same major, I would have been miserable too b/c my social life would have been drastically different that semester.
Over the years, I’ve shared lots of fond memories and fun times I had in college with my kids. They know I loved it. D17 even went to look at it, was kind of “meh” but then ultimately changed her mind and it became #1 on her list (she didn’t go, didn’t get enough merit and it was stupidly expensive).
Last year at parent orientation for her university, there was a session with a panel of professors from various departments, each with an assigned topic. One talked about the various services available to students, including mental health/counseling. One thing she said really struck me. She said, “Please don’t tell your kids this is going to be the “best time of their life” because for a lot of kids, it’s not.” She went on to say that many kids struggle first semester, adjusting to being away from home, tough academics, and even making friends/finding their niche. She said that kids then think there is something wrong with them that they aren’t enjoying this time, that they are afraid to tell their parents if they are unhappy or struggling. I realized that I had definitely made comments over the years about how much I loved college but never thought about the flip side. I’m glad I heard her say this b/c D17 did struggle socially - it was hard for her to make new friends, find people with similar interests and she was 3500 miles from home. Her first semester was not what she was expecting at all, and while she did not want to transfer, she struggled with what seemed to be, all of her friends from h.s. having the time of their lives (acc to social media!). Thankfully 2nd semester went much better and she couldn’t wait to get back for sophomore year. When my dd was venting to me, I actually realized that there were a lot of things about my college years that I’d forgotten, socially things I struggled with in my friend group, etc. so I was able to give share some of that with her to show her that even though I’d always said how much I loved college, there actually were times that I experienced some of the things she did.
It was a very special time. I had a great circle of friends and life was a cycle of learning, gaming (multiple RPGs, wargames and boardgames) consuming adult beverages. Toss in hanging out in the radio station and some intramural sports and things were close to perfect.
I loved college. “We were young and we were improving”–John Mellencamp (a musical staple at that time).
I definitely enjoyed college, made life-long friends and learned a lot, but I also recall a lot of anxiety and worry about money, classes, social issues. In some ways I feel like I didn’t appreciate those opportunities enough. There were many great times in my life, but the ones I look back on most fondly were probably the years right after college when I had a great job and met some wonderful people (including my now husband), my grad school years and my first few of years as a parent - the sheer wonder of having this little person (who happened to be a pretty easy baby) without the challenges of multiple kids, school etc. Each season of life brings great things and challenges. I am definitely able to better appreciate all the good things at this point in my life now compared to my college days. .