The one question that many college students face is if college is either fun or challenging (or both?) Graphic by Chaz Kawamura

By Chaz Kawamura, Senior Editor

At the beginning of your college education, your parents might try to convince you that you will get a good college experience, but what do you think that is? Going to parties? Finding a passion? A stress-free and happy life while in college? For me, that all sounded good until the first day I stepped onto the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills. 

Don’t get any of this confused. It is not this specific university that made my time in college hard and stressful. Wherever I went, I feel like I would have had the same experience. They do not tell you the real reasons why college is so different besides the obvious reason that it is harder. 

According to a study done by Kings College, the real difference between high school and college includes class time, class size, teaching style, time management, homework, assistance, studying, testing, grading, graduation requirements, expenses, and other responsibilities. 

The biggest differences that I experienced were time management, expenses, and the other responsibilities that I had to do while in college. 

In high school, time management was really the least of my worries. After high school, which was guaranteed to end around 2:30 p.m., you had at least 8-9 hours to do everything else. Normally, it did not take long to do homework. 

For college, time management is everything, especially if you have later classes. Every single day in college, there’s no guaranteed time where you will be available. Anything can come up. Which is why I had to manage my time wisely. However, even when I did manage my time, it was still stressful.

The responsibilities I had along with going to college made it stressful. High school for me was full of no responsibility other than actually going to school and passing my classes. Now, in college, I am a part of a club, the Bulletin, and a fraternity. All this while having two jobs to try and pay for living expenses, books, and other necessities, which only adds to the stress and depression I face on a daily basis. 

According to research done by New York University, 6 out of 10 college students report having felt so stressed they couldn’t get their work done on one or more occasions. This means the majority of college students are stressed enough to have a hard time getting their work done or simply cannot get it done at all. 

I faced this regularly, dating back to my freshman year. Now, in my senior year, I am more stressed than ever before. Expenses of school and things I have to pay for outside of schools like insurance, housing, and groceries are stressors in my life. 

Being part of the Bulletin, a club, a fraternity, while having two jobs does not help me whatsoever when it comes to stress. The one thing that it teaches me is that life is hard and that it is only going to get harder from here. Which, in turn, could help me in the long run. 

For me, this is part of the sacrifice mindset that I have. I am willing to sacrifice my mental health to have a better chance of a good future. All the clubs and organizations I am a part of and the jobs I have, all I do is to improve myself. 

Life is not all butterflies and rainbows. Sometimes, you have to suffer in order to succeed. This is the reality I face. For me, the college experience has been and will be, some of the hardest years of my life from school to personal things that have happened while in CSUDH. The harsh reality is that it will only get harder. 

Once I graduate, I will have even more responsibilities and even more things to worry about. So this college experience, although it is hard, stressful, and full of depression. It is still gearing me up for the future after college. Which is what I think the college experience is for me. All these things are only making me a stronger person. 

All these hardships are only helping me to be a better, smarter, stronger person. I always say to myself, ‘at least college is better than high school for me’, and that right there is amazing.