How would you've made the best out of your college years in hindsight?

DISCLAIMER: It's a little weird that I'm posting on this specific website because I don't particularly have any interest in working on Wall Street after graduating college. I can't say I have my sights set on any particular career at all really. But when a finance/consulting career did pique my interest a couple years back, I came across this forum and even after that phase passed, for some reason, I have still found a lot of value and even enjoyment in learning from the type of worldview of the people on this forum. But yeah, I digress.


Anyway, I'm a senior in high school and I was just accepted to a super selective undergrad institution (HYP), and of course, my family and I were over the moon. But there's now an even bigger part of me that's worried about all the ways the next four years could just go to waste especially considering the kind of opportunity that just landed in front of me. Simply put, what if I fuck it all up. So I'm curious to hear from any of you who've graduated college (any college, because I think my worries apply to just about anyone about to attend college): how would you have made the best out of your college years? How do you find an area of study you can truly be passionate about? How do find a career you can be passionate about? What are the little things you should've done that you maybe just didn't realize back then? Would you have had more fun? Met more people? How do you come out of it all as a better person? Hell, how would you have spent the summer before your freshman year? In case you did go to a really selective institution, how would you have differently handled the pressure of an environment like that? Anything goes, really. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

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