8 Ways That College Is A Time of Doing the Exact Opposite of What Our Parents Told Us

Our parents spent 18 years preparing us for the world. Now that we're on our own, we do what we want, often to our doom.

Our early years in our parent's house were spent learning a lot of do's and don't, a lot of life lessons, and a lot of cliches we rolled our eyes at.  Usually our teenage years we feel like we are under the heavy boot of Big Brother and can't wait to get out the house. College, for many, is the first time we are on our own away from home and our parent's edicts, so we respond by basically complete rebellion against everything they've ever taught us.  Here's compelling proof that during College we do the exact opposite of what our parents told us to.

1) "Don't make faces like that or it will get stuck"

In an effort to rebel against our parent's ban on making faces, these girls have resorted to looking like aquatic birds for aesthetic reasons. The plus side is they're really good at eating spaghetti. 

Miley Cyrus is seen here making faces as some sort of desperate yet brilliant marketing campaign to look really stupid in order to be famous. 

2) "Eat Your Vegetables"

Here we observe the college student eating the most well rounded of all it's meals.  Peppers and Onions are free? No thank you, I might as well be eating brussel sprouts. Oh Hubble sucks again today? Greasy Pizza it is.

Because nothing says "brain food" for studying late at night than the well rounded options from the vending machine. 4 hours for 10 pages? Get me a red bull and it's done.

3) "Don't Sit Too Close To The TV"

We all got yelled at for this as a kid. It's not gunna ruin my eyes I'm just blocking your view. 

So I'm gunna sit as close as I want because the closer I sit the easier it is to kill zombies.  If I sit far away then I startle the witch and now I'm dead, thanks mom. 

4) "If all your friends jumped off a bridge would you?"

There is a lot of truth to this one.  It's a testament to the power of peer pressure.  But in college, Yes! We Would! Many times metaphorically, we are caught into the same game of fitting in and feeling cool that we should have grown out of in high school. So that's not good. But literally, I want to go bungee jumping, especially if all my friends are!

5) "Nothing good happens after midnight"

This one is also true, unless you're up killing zombies.  And despite what stupid movies like "National Lampoon's Van Wilder Goes to Nebraska" will tell you, staying out until 4AM, getting blackout drunk three times a weekend, throwing up and hooking up, is terrible. I did my share of partying and let me tell ya, nothing beats a night of Live Mafia. As a great college Dean once said, "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way go through life, son."  

6) "Go to church"

As a good friend of mine is prone to say, "Don't spend your Sundays listening to the Honorable Reverend Snooze."  Church seemed super boring growing up but college is a time to actually take ownership of your faith and think about what you believe, church (and your local InterVarsity) is a great place to start.

You'll discover that Church, for all it's eccentricities, is really your extended family and those aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents are there to love you.  You'll find yourself growing in faith on your own and get some free meals out of it as well. 

 7) "Read Your Bible" 

Studying is overwhelming at time and "reading your Bible" seems like another churchy thing our youth group pastor told us to do.

But actually a well read Bible is your greatest friend and ally in your relationship with God. 99% of the despair we face in life will come from a misconception, in some way, of God's good news. Study, absolutely, but there is no better investment in yourself than giving 10 minutes a day to read a chapter or two.

8) "Say Your Prayers"

Growing up we were always told to brush our teeth and say our prayers before bed.  So prayer became this routine thing you did before bed, meals, and church. In college, prayer becomes an afterthought. 

But in my experience, prayer is more like this. Pouring my heart out to Him, usually in my car alone, with all of the junk I am struggling through. Prayer can be a conversation or it can just be silently sitting in His presence. For more ideas about how to make prayer interesting click here for a previous blog entry.

So remember, next time you hear that internal voice of skepticism from your parents about what you're doing, your parents are wiser than you think now and *much* wiser than you thought as a teenager.  Sometimes they were dropping brilliant truth nuggets, other times they just wanted you to stop making that face because you were being annoying. College is a time, not to disregard everything they ever taught you, but to separate fact from fiction and learn and how to grow in your relationship with God not as a child dragged to VBS, but as an adult discerning God's will for your life. 

Seth

More Reflections: How To Not Start Your Freshman Year Playing College Football

Reflecting on a 16 Year Football Career: Freshman Year (Part III)
Off to a Rough Start

Year One: RedShirted
After I knew that Drake was where God wanted me to be, I didn't know much else.  I knew that I would redshirt, meaning I wouldn't play for my first year, and I would have to start over again at the bottom of the totem pole.  That meant be humble and patient, but hungry.  I knew that I was the fourth linebacker in my class, and the other three were the guys they signed instead of me.  That meant I had a chip on my shoulder.  I knew that God had brought me here to play football at a high level, so I had a lot of confidence.

But things started slow.  And crappy.

My first ever padded collegiate practice, in my first ever drill, I messed up my shoulder.  I got hit at a weird angle and it immediately started hurting.  But I toughed it out and kept going.  Well then it got hit a few more times.  Then I stepped in as scout team quarterback to throw the ball.  Now it was really hurting.  Not good.  I decided I would wait to until we go to the next drill, and then go see the trainer.  So I run over and the trainer is looking at someone else.  So while I'm standing there, I figure I'll get a drink.

And then it happens.

The Defensive Coordinator, my coach, looks over and sees me getting a drink while everyone else is in the drill.

"HEDMAN!! WHAT THE **** ARE YOU DOING!? GET YOUR *** OVER HERE!! (and then it got worse) EVERYBODY! CHOP 'EM!!"

If you don't know what the term "chop 'em" means, consider yourself lucky.  It means commence torture, the worst, more exhausting punishment in football (IMO).  Up-Downs.  Chopping your feet until coach blows the whistle, then dropping into a push up and getting back up as fast as you can to continue chopping.  I think we did 30. I thought my shoulder hurt before?  Now its actually hurt, like strained labram.  And I can't say anything now!  I'm already too embarrassed that I got the whole team in trouble, as a freshman, on my first day of pads, from getting hurt on my first hit.  Not off to a great start.  By the way, when I actually go to see the trainer, they say they can't help me but its just gunna hurt like hell until it heals on its own. Great.

Later that day, I have a distinct memory of walking over to sit with a table full of guys at dinner and spilling my entire blue Powerade over the whole table.  That was not my day.

But things got better that year.  Camp came to an end and I got to play a lot of scout team, which is where the freshman and underclassmen run the opposing team's defense against our offense.  This meant no pressure, running around with your friends, hitting people and getting better.  One time I really ticked off our running back by just straight running him over. Good times.

A lot of standing on the sideline when you're redshirted.

That offseason I was introduces to the joy that was 6AM workouts.  There's nothing like walking a couple blocks in a snowstorm at 5:30 in the morning to go get your *** kicked for a couple hours.  That sounds negative.  Really, there's nothing like it.  Its a really unique and rewarding experience.  Mostly because you're doing it with 100 guys that are equally miserable but you're all there for the same goal, which makes it kind of fun.

I was also introduced a big part of my career: coaching changes.  Just as I had begun to get to know our Defensive Coordinator, and he had become to be impressed at me by seeing my physicality and winning Scout Team Player of the Week three times, he took a better job.  That meant learning a whole new system and, more importantly, getting to know and impress a whole new coach.

Me and Brandon.  This is actually from Sophomore year but this still gives you some context to how young I was.

What I learned that first year was a lot about hard work, patience, and finding your place.  I knew I wasn't the big star anymore and I was OK with that.  I just had to find my role on the team and fill it.  I would need to learn this a lot more in years to come, however.  I also began to build some great friendships while also neglecting friendships that could have been built.  Although I may not have been mature enough for it at the time, I regret not being as social or as involved in the party scene (even if I didn't partake) so I could have been better friends with my teammates.  It was hard to overcome those initial treads and habits.

I think that I felt as if, in High School I talked and goofed around a lot, which made people like me, but not respect me.  I thought a lot about the quote by Abe Lincoln, that "It's better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you're a fool, than to open your mouth and prove it" and figured if I was more of a strong, silent type, people would respect me more.  Turned out, people didn't end up always respecting or liking me, and more often than not, I think people thought I was judging them.  I should have just focused on being like Christ (thus being myself) rather than try and be something I'm not.  Funny looking back on it.

Seth

Next: Concluding College Ball (Part IV)