What’s your biggest regret?

Often times we go through college so quickly that we think: “How in the heck did I graduate? Wait a minute, there’s so many things I didn’t do!” or my personal favorite: “Why did I do that?”

Here at OSU we have a few people that have ridden that bus of struggle with you, and sadly some are still buckled into the back seat with the extra padding.

Even with all of the crazy situations students find themselves in, the regrets are not what you may think.

Kristin, Economics and German, AU ’15

“Here it goes…I wish I had been more outgoing as a freshmen. I was so sad about high school being over that it was hard for me to see the beauty of the new season in life that was right in front of me. I regret not dressing like an adult most of the time – now I have to play catch-up!”

Ocean,  Animal Science, SP’15

“Regret: eating everything in sight, not eating as healthy as I should, and gaining 30 pounds lol and not taking enough time to explore educational options, like study abroad.”

Nadeera, Mechanical Engineering, SP’16

“Making better use of resources on campus to get more for my money.”

Abby, Dental Hygiene, SP ’15

“My regret is I was not able to participate in sports until my senior year. I was a cross country, basketball and track athlete for six years. Then college came and I did not have the time to play sports until my senior year.

“I regret that my parents make too much money that I could not get any financial aid. So I then had to work roughly 25-30 hours a week on campus to pay for my rent. With being in the medical field, I had to be in class from 7:30am-4pm and then go to work. It saddens me that many students fall into this financial crisis. How does it make sense to send a young adult to receive a higher education only to have them being stressed about money problems instead of actually studying. Our education system is broken. My regret is that our government and our leaders are not doing anything about it. Students are leaving school in five digits or more in debt on average and many can not find a job that fits their major. So, many people are forced to work at jobs they could have had without a degree! So yes, we basically pay for a piece of paper.

“As a recent dental hygiene student, I had about 2000-3000 dollars worth of boards to take just to become licensed and that does not include the semester tuition. College prices are stopping many smart and intelligent people from gaining an education.”

Charles, Economics, SP ’16

“I really regret that I don’t have much time to participate in a research related to my major study. I found that it could be very useful to my application to graduate school, though I don’t even have a plan to pursue a Master’s degree at earlier time. Participating in a research could help expand the practical use of my knowledge and keep in touch with professors in my major. It’s really important for a student to be familiar with their professors if they are gonna apply for graduate school. I know this sounds utilitarian, but it is really what I felt these days when I’m asking professors to write a good letter for me.

“Being conceited during my first year in OSU. I get used to work alone because I think this improves my efficiency and saves time for me. But sometimes, it drives me to the other extreme which is a situation that I do not really want to spend time with my friends. I now see this as my selfishness. I mean friends are one of the most important part of our life. Spending time with either my family or friends is not wasting time or sacrificing time that could have been spent to work or study. I also realize that everybody has their shortcomings and merits. If I want to make friend with other, in some extent, I have to bear and get used to their shortcomings. I cannot expect that all my friends live based on my preferences. I have shortcomings, too. Nobody is perfect. I regret being a selfish person during my earlier time in the US. But I’m so glad that I noticed this and changed myself.”

Just remember we are still human and we are not machines that are the parts to the whole of The Ohio State University. We do not spit out the alma mater everyday, drink insane amounts of beer, go to every game, party too hard, punch Michiganders in the face, and then regret everything in the morning.  We have lives outside of the hype of OSU and, sadly, certain parts of our lives are what feed our regrets.

If you zoned out until this part of my spiel just know that we, the golden members of OSU, cannot stay happy with everything all of the time. Jeez.