The best four years of your life. A time of consistent change, friendship making, lesson learning and bittersweet memories. I remember my first day on Fordham University’s campus, moving into my dorm room in Alumni Court South, antsy to get settled with my roommate. Would I be good at this? Will I make my mark? Will I be able to keep up with my grades? Will I land my dream job after graduation? All important questions, but there’s one I’ve always asked myself and continue to ask up to this day: Will I meet the right people? In my 21 years on this Earth and my three and-a-half at Fordham, something has become abundantly clear. The people always make the place, and these same people are the ones who truly decide whether college is the best four years of your life.
College is an interesting place, filled with strangers all united by the same stresses and excitement. Newfound freedom comes with more responsibility, and the short weekends make for even longer weeks. But the great thing about college is that no one walks this four-year path alone. Whether it’s the person you met in your class, a pregame in your first-year dorm hall or someone you accidentally stumbled upon along the way, any strange face could become a light in your life — all you have to do is look for it.
The beauty of these four years is in their mystery, the unknown — something I have always had a problem with. I prefer my life planned out in a weekly calendar, but college taught me to treat being unbearably busy as a privilege. Time doesn’t come back, but the people that you spend it with will stick around. This is where I prefer to store my memories: in the people that I make them with. Inevitably, college provides a space where you can meet a multitude of people, but only a handful of the right people.
People are always in our lives to teach us something, and college is the ideal place to learn. Some people are in your life solely to drag you down, while others make it their life’s goal to lift you up, and this is how college memories are preserved: by spending time with those who want to watch you thrive, succeed and simply be happy with you. These four years have allowed me to form the most gratifying, cherished and special friendships that I know will last outside of the Fordham gates. These years have also thrown me curve balls that are just as important in order to grow. When all is said and done, my time at Fordham will have given me more than I could ever ask for. I will look back at college with a smile on my face, and what a privilege it is to have something to miss.
In my time at Fordham, I have certainly learned a lot in the classroom, but I’ve learned even more about myself. College is not just class, extracurricular activities and social life; it’s the things that surprise you, the things that don’t always appear to be the “best.” The fall-out with someone you trusted, the awkward encounters with a familiar stranger and the strength with which you get through the hard parts. In reality, it is these lessons that make college the best, most transformative and messiest years of your life.
Everyone tells you to live in the moment, enjoy the present and appreciate it before it’s gone. But if we spend too much time fearing the future, we’re gonna waste the now. College can be classified as the best four years of your life because of how it sets you up for the rest of it. I wouldn’t trade my memories that I’ve made at Fordham for the world, and I will definitely be choking back tears when I turn my tassel in May. But if I do it right, the people who were meant to be there all along will follow me to the next, even more daunting chapter: The rest of the best years of your life.
