Staying Sane During College

A few days ago we were presented with the question of how we managed to remain in college when nationwide, community colleges suffer from poor retention rates. After a bit of brainstorming, the initial question eventually gave way to another: why drop out rates are so high? What is keeping those lost students from committing themselves to higher education? Naturally, a question like this will raise a variety of opinions or perspectives, but the two most significant 'deal breakers' I've managed to stave off thus far are: financial ruin and the hedonist within me.

Money is one of, if not the greatest, contributing factor that continues to keep young adults away or removed from education. Over the past decade the steadily rising cost of tuition and textbooks go hand in hand with the continued budget cuts to education systems nationwide further compounding this issue. Luckily, I have the support of my parents and government funding, like FAFSA, to help put me through college. The financial support they provide is literally the very foundation that allows me to build up everything when it comes to college and higher learning. To them I am eternally grateful for allowing me the opportunity and in return I work at my fullest potential. However, my heart goes out to my fellow students who do not share this luxury. I've met plenty of incredibly hard working and dedicated students that travel many miles to attend class and spend hours at work just to attend class and pay tuition. Not only that, but they also achieve the best grades and remain very approachable. They are the ones who I find most inspirational because they exemplify what it means to be a hard worker and truly dedicated.

The word hedonism, or someone that is hedonistic, may come with a number of strange and unlikely connotations, but to me it simply implies a person who prioritizes happiness, or in this case things they enjoy, over everything else. It's a sublime lifestyle, but totally impractical. Laziness can also be associated with hedonistic behavior because to some people life is all about lounging around doing absolutely ****all. Unfortunately, deep down inside I know I'm one of those people and it's taken years to suppress the urges to give everything up and turn into a couch potato. I find it incredibly gratifying spending a whole weekend doing nothing but sitting around a table chatting with friends, eating amazing food, or sleeping for hours. If the rest of my life could be this simple I would trade everything for it, but of course we all know that, short of becoming a homeless bum, this probably won't ever happen. So how did I do it? By simply allowing myself to, ironically, do as I pleased. I believe if you keep yourself from doing something, rather than moderating it, it gets pent up inside you and eventually bursts out in a horrible way and that is something I wanted to avoid. So, thankfully I've had the clairvoyance to beat some sense into myself and taught myself moderation. Thankfully I didn't end up crawling down into that dark, but very pleasant, rabbit hole.