There’s a quote from the 1993 classic “Dazed and Confused” that has stuck with me for years: “I’d like to quit thinking of the present, like right now, as some minor, insignificant preamble to something else.”
If you haven’t seen it, the film follows a group of high school students on their last day of school in 1976.
One of the film’s major themes is how, especially in our youth, we tend to think in terms of preparing for the future, which causes us to forget we’re living in the present. This quote brilliantly puts that concept into words.
I bring this up because, as a rising senior in college, I’ve realized I committed that same sin.
I went through my entire college experience thinking the piece of paper they give you at the end was all that mattered. In reality, that is what matters the least.
I’m not here to tell you the same things your parents do: that while academics are important, the real beauty of the college experience is making friends, going to parties and enjoying your unsupervised youth before it’s too late.
Rather, my advice is to treat your college experience like the beginning of your career, since in many ways, it is.
What really matters — professionally, anyway — are the skills, relationships and experiences you acquire along the way. The best things I did at UF had nothing to do with the classes I took but the opportunities I took advantage of outside them.
Frankly, I didn’t take enough.
At graduation, you’re going to be seated next to hundreds of other students getting the same degree you’re getting. What sets you apart is your portfolio, your connections and the leadership skills you’ve spent the past four years developing.
You don’t have to know exactly what you want to do with your life — hell, I still don’t — but if anything, that should let you feel the freedom of getting to spend the next four years figuring it out. There’s beauty in that.
The first semester of college genuinely changes the trajectory of your life, and I don’t say that to scare you — it’s going to happen whether you like it or not — but to inspire you to embrace everything UF has to offer.
In your first semester, making connections with professors and peers, creating strong work habits and getting involved in as many clubs, organizations and groups as possible is just as important as enjoying your first taste of independence.
College isn’t about finding yourself but about building yourself. There’s no finished version of you waiting on the other side of graduation. College is the time to take risks, fail and make changes. It’s four years of free trial and error.
Some people don’t have it all figured out at the end, myself included, but that doesn’t mean we’re behind.
By leaning into that, you’ll look back tomorrow as a senior — it goes by that fast — and see exponential growth personally and professionally. When it’s all over, you’ll have a scrapbook of memories to tell your future kids and a resume companies won’t be able to refuse.
In high school, all you’re worried about is getting into college. Now you’re at UF, one of the best and brightest schools in the country. What comes after these next four years is entirely up to you.
So quit thinking of the present as some minor, insignificant preamble to something else. There is no “something else."
Contact Brayden Schultz at bschultz@alligator.org. Follow him on X @schultzbrayden9.
