9 things college taught me

To follow my gut.
My heart's not always right that's for sure, but my gut is. I followed my gut when I felt led to apply for an Internship off Craigslist that seemed right up my alley... and it ended up totally changing my life and giving me a whole slew of work experience. I learned to follow my gut when it told me to spend a summer in Tanzania... and the year after when it told me to spend a summer in Texas. Even when those summers made no sense to my career path. I think we undervalue our gut sometimes. I've learned to listen, and it's gotten me pretty far I'd say.

To stop making life about useless, temporary things.
Life is about people. More specifically, loving people well. All this studying and all these papers and all this work and money to get a piece of paper that gives you some sort of educational superiority and I wind up just realizing, life is so not about this. Money won't bring you happiness and neither will a college degree. But serving people, helping humanity out by using the giftings and passions you have, making life about people, that's what this whole gig is about.

To soak up every single moment with family.
Senior year this slapped me across the face. Once you move out and get a full-time job, you're gone for good. I realized throughout college that family is so crucial. In most cases, at the end of the day, I'm there with my faith and love of Jesus and my family. They kept me rooted and encouraged throughout these years and throughout my life, and college made my heart grow fonder (even when I didn't know I could) with not being around them as much.

To lead out of who I am.

A huge chunk of my college journey has been about leadership. (Which I would have never predicted had you told me that 5 years ago). The biggest lesson I learned during college was that the world needs leaders that lead out of the uniqueness they have to offer. Leadership fails when all we are trying to do is mimic someone else who we feel did a decent (or good) job. The minute this realization clicked in my head, my whole foundation of leadership was strengthened.

To learn the things I want to learn, and toss aside the things I'm wasting my time on.
College should teach you to learn everything and soak up as much knowledge as you can, right? Well, maybe by the end of it it taught me quite differently. I no longer finish books that don't interest me. There are books on my Kindle that are 18% read that will likely never be finished. I no longer take classes that bore me or spend time in situations that absolutely don't interest me. I leave. I say no. I've learned who I am and I've stop apologizing for it. I prefer not to get to the end of my life and realize I spent endless hours doing things I didn't enjoy just because I felt like I had to. Life's too short for that. Which brings me to my next point:

To say no to things.
It's that easy. One word. Once it rolls around on our tongue a bit and we get used to saying it, it gets a whole lot easier. We should be able to say no without fear or guilt. How miserable to commit to a million things and never be able to invest fully in something. Being spread thin is no joke, it's draining and just plain miserable.

To know my worth, and to not sell myself short.
I used to tell people I'd do design work for free. (I still do it every once in a blue moon, but for the most part, I stick to charging what I should.) I also used to allow friends and other people to give me worth and value. My worth was once wrapped around pleasing everyone else. And well, that's an unsuccessful goal to say the least. I'll never please everyone, and one my worth was not attached to pleasing people, my life got a whole lot easier and more freeing.

To stop making excuses.
Excuses are fun when you're 10 years old. Why you didn't make your bed or brush your hair or set the table. Then you grow up and your excuses hold you back. They rob you of joy or bravery or valuable life-experiences or relationships or peace of mind. College and the people in it, well, they taught me excuses are life ruiners. Tell the truth, live fully, pursue your dreams, and stop stressing.

To never be afraid to be the one who loves more.
As Anne Lamott once said, "tell your stories, if people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better." Well, my story includes a brief relationship with a dude that faulted me for caring too much. Sear that in the brain of a chick that has definitely been the one that 'cared more' in the past, and you have a recipe for her starting to believe it's a huge fault. So I began to be paralyzed that any guy I'd fall for would dump me once again because I cared too much. That's no way to live and definitely no way to perceive myself. I don't think any conviction has more deeply flipped my life around than the realization that being the one who tries to care deeper and love more, well, it's not a fault at all. It's beautiful. Some people can't put their hearts out there with the risk of heartbreak looming in the back of their head. So the people that deeply care and love more despite the risk, well, I think we're the brave ones after all.