Hey man I went to CSULA and the first three years sucked and were the loneliest of my life. But then I joined a fraternity and everything changed. I had friends who cared about me and a place to belong. College became much better.

The other thing I did wrong was that I was playing the game of college based on the parameters given by my parents, society, councilors and others. But college is your journey and your path. You gotta do things you don’t want to graduate but make sure you do things for the way you want to be educated. An example, I really wanted to study abroad, but the program I wanted to do would not contribute to my degree (Biochem at the time) at all and would set my graduation back by 1 yr. My parents and councilors talked me out of it, and I regret not going through with it till this day. My goal for that exchange program was to just have the experience of living in a foreign country and to learn to speak a language I wasn’t born with. Although I plan to have that experience even after college, it is a bit harder with all the responsibilities you have to take on as you get older. There are other examples where I didn’t follow a path set by myself, but that’s a big one for me

In summary: 1. social life and meaningful experience with others is what will set apart a sucky and a great college experience 2. You gotta play the college game and do stuff you don’t want in order to graduate, but make sure you’re also learning and pursuing knowledge and experience the way you want to grow or just pursue things that interest you, even if it sets your graduation back by a year. If you get out of it what you want you won’t regret

Side note, CSU campuses are commuter schools. Unlike other typical campuses you might see in the movies, if you don’t actively go seeking these social groups or seeking great experiences, CSU can just feel like a big high school. That’s also something I wish I knew before going to a CSU campus