1. GET THAT GOOD GRADE

Schools heavily emphasize your grades. You become your grade, which can heavily determine your self-confidence level. No one will care what grade you got in a certain class in the “real” world. Look to improve and actually learn rather than just taking shortcuts to achieve the end result.

2. MAJOR IN SOMETHING SO YOU CAN PURSUE THAT CAREER PATH

Many students struggle to pick a major because they don’t know what they want. Our minds change all the time, and it is no different for the majors and career paths college students choose. About 80% of college students change their major(s) and only about 1 out of 4 people actually pursue a career path that is related to their major. So keep in mind that your future is not dependent on what you study in school.

3. YOUR OCCUPATION IS A FULL-TIME STUDENT

I don’t like this mindset. My “occupation” is bettering my life and I am a student on the side. The reason a lot of students struggle to find a purpose is because of their identity being external instead of internal. Your time is occupied by the life you are living, and being a student should only be a small portion of your life, not your entirety.

4. BUILD A RESUME

This is something I absolutely despise. I feel so fake when creating my resume. So I have to only include things that others think matter when in reality I know what is not on the resume is so much more significant. Don’t spend your life trying to please those around you to the point that you forget who you are. DO NOT FORGET WHO YOU ARE!

5. GO TO SCHOOL TO GET AN EDUCATION

If you were to ask a student why they were going to college, some common answers may include: to learn and develop skills, secure a good-paying job in the future, create connections, mature quicker, etc. College has been so heavily ingrained into the minds of people that anything different would be looked down upon. But every reason to go to college is every reason not to go to college. College is just a fake simulation of real life. So if you want to be successful in real life, engage in real – NOT FAKE – life.

These are just 5 mindsets instilled by the school (college/university) system. I have been chained by these, unknowingly, for a vast majority of my life. But since having the courage to ask WHY/HOW and researching through books and videos of successful people, I have slowly freed myself.

If you are also a college student, I would love to hear your opinions in the comment section below! And if you are living in the real world, feel free to share if you agree about college being a fake version of real life.