Let me preface this by stating that I am a senior, and college is still not what I expected. Something in me is hardwired to expect rigid professors, cruel students, and bland material, and that just isn’t what college is at all. My professors pretty clearly enjoy their job, and everybody here wants to be in these classes, challenging themselves or trying something new. Everybody is here because they want to be, not because they were forced to be and that makes a difference.

Before I graduated high school, I heard lots of my teachers telling me that college would be harder, and my professors would expect more. I can proudly state that that was technically true, but a bit misleading. Yes, sometimes the material is more challenging, but my professors are so enthused and excited to be here that it doesn’t matter if they want a seven-page paper out of me. My professors want something that they know I can do, and I can pick something that I’m interested in, and everyone is happy.

College students are experiencing freedom, and absolute expression, and they are somehow the kindest people in the world because of that. I know that that is a general statement, but I’ve never met anyone at college who was unkind to me, even when I probably didn’t deserve kindness. We are all slowly growing up and figuring it out, and we don’t have time to judge the faults we see in others.

Everyone here develops their own schedules, and tries new things, and learns more and more about themselves every day. A first-year student may start out with a plan that involves a business degree, and then learn along the way that they really like political science. Our core classes allow you to discover the things that you are and aren’t interested in. You don’t have to learn things you don’t want to. It is absolutely, indescribably freeing.

So, I’m a senior, and I’ll be gone in a year(ish). College was nothing like I expected and was better than anything I could have hoped for. I’m seriously hoping that life after college is also much better than I’m expecting.

Arizona Ridgway is a Senior education major at USAO from Rosedale, OK.