When I first walked into campus, I never thought I would learn anything except computers. Don’t get me wrong, I did learn some computer-related things. That is why I enrolled in a computer engineering program after all. But that is nothing compared to what I am going to discuss later on. Lessons that really shaped me were from outside the classroom.
Socializing
The biggest impact that university had on me was probably this. Before entering university, I did not put any effort into socializing. I thought it is pointless and had the classic introvert ego. Thinking that being an introvert and not communicating with others because I was special was the right thing to do.
Over the course of multiple semesters, I learned to socialize with others; different students, professors, and you name it. By the end of the day, I am still an introvert. But I believe that introverts can nurture their extroversion, and it is very vital to have this skill. I realized it is a skill that I couldn’t avoid if I wanted to succeed later on.
Meeting different types of humans
Over the course of many semesters, I had the chance to meet many types of people. Ones that lack the basic human morality and would abuse you, which thanks to them, you learn to confront such humans in your future life. Ones that are drowned in egoism. Ones that are too self-centered and are constantly trying to attract attention.
Also, humans that are very kind, and you enjoy seeing them every day.
Meeting humans in the same age range
It is probably once in a lifetime chance that you get to meet many others that are in the same age range with you. You get to know their mindset and even more. It made me realize that no one has really figured out what to do in their lives. We are all just adventurers stepping through life.
Mental states
University is full of up and downs in terms of feelings. One day you might feel very nice because you aced an exam and got a good score. Other times you might feel down because of someone or because you have a due exam.
But when you look at them in retrospect, they all look like very nontrivial moments in life. Like real life, you go through different times and university (involuntarily) teaches you this.
When I look back at my time in university, I realize that the true lessons were not taught in the classroom. The real lessons came from the people I met.
Life is constantly teaching you, but you never really notice it is teaching you lessons. You learn them in ways you never expect.