Things being a student taught me

Student life is probably something we have a love-hate relationship with. Learning is a lifelong process. We are probably students all our lives, learning something new everyday but the student life I write about today is the one that includes skipping to school with a god heavy bag weighing you down, the buzz of the school bell, the canteen runs, the fight for PE classes, playful bickering with our frenemies and what not! 

Growing up, we experience a whole lot of emotions and make some of the best memories. While being an adult has its own perks and adventures, nothing beats the thrill of student life. It gives us a lot to look back at. In fact, it gives us a lot to learn from! 

I recently graduated from college and I have mixed feelings about the things that await me ahead in life. I am super excited to explore, learn and live my dreams. But leaving behind the student life? I think I’m going to miss it. I already do! 

I have learnt a lot as a student. So I’m going to share some fun facts, harsh truths, and a lot more about my student life and the things it taught me! 

Cherishing your best days is important:

You remember how Andy from The Office said, “I wish there was a way to know you are in the good old days before you've actually left them”

That is precisely how I feel about my student life. The time you spend with your best friends, the adventures that you face in school are some things that you will remember even when you are 80. While nostalgia makes me the happiest, I believe enjoying the moment is more important. Knowing that the exact moment that makes you happy will become a memory soon and enjoying it, absorbing it, laughing/crying your heart out is very important in that moment. Just let yourself get washed away with happiness! 

Friends for life or not:

I was extremely confident, popular and outgoing in school. I was friends with almost my entire batch. In short, I had many friends. Speed up to 2022, you know the number of school friends I am still in contact with? - three. 

Sounds sad? It’s not. Friends you make in school and college surely make those long lectures fun and lunch breaks happier, but life moves on and so do you. A lot of people end up being best friends even after school/college for a lifetime but most end up making new friends. Our lives constantly change. Finding a good, trustworthy friend is not so easy these days but finding a bunch of friends who can accompany you to dinner after a long day of work almost sounds the same after you grow up.

Many things pan out to our will and many things don’t. 

Friendships are quite similar. We make new friends wherever we go, some of us hold on to old ones but what is important is holding on to the values friendships offer. 

Teachers are not always correct:

This one is harsh. 

I was a rebellious student. A proper teenager. But not in a bad way. I was lucky enough to come across teachers that have taught me a great deal and who I grew to love over the years. 

However, I also came across teachers who gave me a super difficult time as a teen- for being a teen. Literally. I always felt guilty for hating some of my teachers sometimes but if your gut does not allow you to like them or open up to them, don’t. 

I know it sounds harsh but not all teachers want the best for you. I had a teacher who made me feel extremely horrible for making simple mistakes every student my age made and disrespected me for being a competitive outgoing child, a social butterfly in her words. 

Being around her exhausted me and made me question myself very often, which, as a 16 year old, was very unnecessary. 

Other times we had teachers questioning the length of our school uniforms (I believe a lot of girls can relate to this)  and our integrity with it. Even as a child, it was shocking to me how female teachers could objectify girls as young as 15!

That’s when I realised that people can be adults and be clearly in the wrong, but most never accept it. 

Things you learn as a student, stick with you for the longest time:

I remember having an extremely scholar/knowledgeable history teacher in 10th grade. To put it in Gen Z language she was a ‘no bullshit person’. I loved that about her. She only spilled facts and unlike most she was brutally honest with us. 

She always supplemented her teachings with stories and engaged us to the fullest. Along with our syllabus, she often talked to us candidly after class. She would tell us the importance of taking life seriously and working hard towards the things we love and want. Once she also shared a personal story of how she manages life as a single mother, and absolutely rules it.

I was always inspired by the kind of woman she was, I still am. Every time I study or think about my dreams, I recall her words and her stories and it gives me an odd sense of motivation. And I secretly thank her for being one of the best teachers I had the privilege to study under. 

 Lunch breaks will never be the same:

The loud school bell, the rush outside the canteen, joining desks to make our own sweet potluck, eating even after the break, running down to fill our bottles and playing catch in the time that is left- nothing, I repeat, nothing beats the kind of lunch breaks we enjoy as a student.

Want my last advice? Enjoy it till the last second, make stories and narrate them, just like I’m doing right now.

People always love a good story!

image source: pintrest