Courtesy of Opinion Staff/Headshot of Contributing Writer Sabrina Lane
Last week, I woke up roughly 20 minutes before my first class and threw a sweater over my pajamas before starting my day. Afterward, I discussed the idea of the word “colonialism” in a historical context with my professor. I left class, and the warm sunny weather had turned into rain. Protected underneath the arch of the Modern Languages Building, I watched it pour down and wondered how my life had become such a predictable routine.
I looked at my phone. It was 3:58 p.m., and I was supposed to meet with my friend across campus in two minutes for coffee. We both needed caffeine. The rain showed no signs of stopping.
“Sorry,” I texted him. “I may be a little late.”
My day was packed to the brim. Tonight, I planned to spend my evening applying to internships while stressing about my Quantitative Theory and Methods lab and ideally ending the night playing another hour of “The Sims 4” or watching that YouTube video essay about medieval Iran I had saved in my “Watch Later” playlist. Another day of college, another day of routine.
While I have met incredible people, wonderful professors and have had amazing experiences, I sometimes cannot help but feel guilty for not having the kind of college life depicted in movies.
When I envisioned my college experience as a child, I imagined myself smiling in a sweater with my university’s name on it, sprawled out on the green grass. I saw red solo cups, Netflix actors and long nights with a friend group that looked like it was straight from a pamphlet. When I pictured college, I imagined always being with people or engaging in academic-level discussions that, in retrospect, were more suited for a Ph.D. student. While college does encompass all of these expectations to some degree, I never imagined the simple monotony of day-to-day life would take up the large majority of my experience.
I think this is a common feeling. My friends and I often discuss if we are doing college “right,” or if we should be living like the cast of “Revenge of the Nerds” (1984). It may be subconscious, but there is pressure in the United States to have the college experience we were all promised in the “Pitch Perfect” movies (2012-2017). Sometimes, it feels like if we are not having that exact experience, then we must be doing something wrong.
But is monotony something to be feared? The rain continued to pour down. I checked my phone: 4:05 p.m., and I was definitely late now. I had so much to do, and I was letting the weather get in the way. However, the more I thought about it, the rain, paired with the warm weather of early spring, provided a nice surprise in my day. The small surprises are what make my college experience worth it. Maybe I should embrace them. Instead of being annoyed at the weather, maybe I should be celebrating the fact that it’s spring. I stepped out, laughing a little bit as I felt the rain hitting me, and ran toward the coffee shop. An exciting conversation was awaiting.
That night, I applied for internships, but I got into a passionate debate about boneless versus regular buffalo wings in the Dobbs Hall parlor. I did end up worrying about my QTM lab, but I also ended up discussing family dynamics with someone I just met. Maybe the college experience that I had envisioned was always there. I find that I do have the interesting conversations and vibrant nights that I was always promised, but they are within the humdrum of everyday life.
Sabrina Lane (27C) is from New York.
