College Experience

Lately, I have been questioning this statement " college experience". What is it? My whole life I've been raised and taught that college is an amazing experience you only get once, that it is the best four years of your life. Well, now that I am in my third year, I am beginning to realize that I do not want nor have I ever wanted the typical " college experience". To me, so many of my peers, believe that college is only a place where you get drunk, have sex, and just do not care. To me, however, that is not the case. I believe that it is a place to learn, to grow, to explore. It is a place where you find out who you are or who you aren't. It should be taken as a great adventure. When I tell people I live at home, and that I go to a school that is in the same city I grew up in, they often think I must be miserable. Though, that is true to an extent, I've learned to deal with the cards I've been dealt. Granted, the school I attend was never my dream college, and I do live in my mom's basement. At the same time, if I had gone to a different school or even lived on campus, I would not be the same person I am today. College is a place that shapes you. Hopefully, you realize that. It's a place where anything can happen. You make it what it is. Whether you are surrounded by amazing people, or people who you never want to aspire to be like. Either way, you learn something, you realize some things for yourself. It is something that should not be taken lightly. So many people in the world never have the opportunity to go attend college, yet we treat it as a norm, something that you " deserve". I hate to tell you, but in all reality, you don't deserve a single thing. So instead of treating it like just one giant party, I think my peers, society, and even I do, need to realize what it is truly for. It is a place to learn. To help you learn how to help yourself and others. I guess for me, I'll never have a typical " college experience" and that's okay. As long as I realize what I have gained and can leave my four years at the University of Dayton as a better, more well rounded person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH2Z_1-Frb8