Becoming yourself

In university, whether or not one admits it, a serious amount of selection and internalization of values occurs in every student. In the process, certain values are also downplayed and rejected - usually unconsciously. In my mind, one must make every effort to monitor this process since after university, it can only be reversed with much difficulty.

My reasoning - admittedly largely influenced by my drugs and behaviour class and somewhat neuroreductionist perspective - is as follows.

The older we get, the more we become accustomed to getting positive feelings or "reward effects" from certain activities. You study so you get that feeling of success you get from an A; you run for a runner's high; you write for a cathartic release; you party to wind down. And here's the catch: the older you get, the less willing (and seemingly able) you are to develop new skills (i.e. reward pathways) to fulfil your emotional/psychological needs. Maybe simply because adults have less time, they seem to need to experience certain feelings without much effort. Thus, though many people have always wanted to learn to play piano, few adults ever pick it up; they've already developed a creative outlet that now provides instant satisfaction.

So what's the point?

Simple: if you tell yourself you don't have time for theatre, correspondence, exercise, fun, cooking and eating ("essen" nicht "fressen"), volunteering, music, dance, caring about people, etc. because you're a student and studies are your priority, chances are you will never have time for them until retirement.

Life starts now.

Caveat
Of course, so much of this learning process takes place during the nearly two decades preceding university (or any of the many other things that can follow high school), but it's only after high school that we become fully responsible for it.