Was it worth it?

I've had a couple of people ask me if college was what I expected it to be or was it better or worse. Guess I might as well write on it and then anyone can read it if they really want to know. Well, I'm not entirely sure what my expectations were. There's all the stuff you see in movies and on tv about college and the little bit your friends tell you, but I knew that wouldn't be my experience. After all, I was going to a tiny Christian, liberal arts school, not the ivy league giant of my dreams. Not to mention I went in knowing there was something wrong with me and after less than a month there, I knew that there was no way I was going to have the "normal" college experience. I suppose my expectations were that it would be very hard, my grades would drop some, and it would be difficult for me to make close friends. In regard to those, it was hard, my grades have taken a hit but not really dropped overall, and I made some close friends but they aren't always what I expect. I, of course, didn't expect to be so sick and had no idea the way it would change my life. But what I really didn't expect was the incredible amount of grace that has been extended to me. The grace of my family when I have been obnoxious, unreasonable, grumpy, and emotional. The grace of my professors for exams and papers and leaving class. The grace of my friends for trying to understand, listening to me complain, and meeting me where I am at even when it is a long way from where they are. The grace of God as I backed away from him and as I make hesitant and often bumbling steps back. The person who has extended the least amount of grace to me is myself. My perfectionist tendencies and my strict ideals have not allowed much grace for my short-comings. Part of my learning experience at college has been finding that not everything I thought was a fault is one and the ones that are won't be fixed by beating myself up. It is hard to become a graceful young women that extends grace to others when you cannot extend that same grace to yourself. So, to answer the original question. I didn't have enough expectations to have them broken or fulfilled. College, however, was incredible. I haven't regretted going for a single moment.