We hear it all the time from people older than us:

“Enjoy it while it lasts… college will be the best four years of your life.”

“Party now, because once you have a job and a family, the real world kicks in and puts an end to all of your fun.”

However, I’m here to tell you that college doesn’t have to be the absolute best four years of your life, but more so the launching pad in which you can continue “the best years of your life” into your 20s, 30s, and beyond if you so choose.

So what’s the secret, you ask? It’s simple…

Find a career that:

1. You love and genuinely enjoy doing
2. Fits your idea of your ideal lifestyle at the current stage of your life (work/life balance, location, etc.)

The advice to find a career you genuinely enjoy is a tough pill for many college students to swallow. Money appears to be the deciding factor for many students. I frequently hear: “I’ll just work until I’m X years old and then retire wealthy.”

I simply don’t buy that excuse. Why would anyone want to waste the prime of their lives on a career that they don’t enjoy and consumes 8-12 hours of their day 5 days or more a week? Talk about burning out by the time you’re 30.

People who enjoy their work have more stride in their step, a better outlook on life, and most importantly… they’re happy. If material possessions are the most important thing in your life and are willing to put in 20-30 years to a job you don’t enjoy in order to achieve it, then by all means do so. This article is more pointed to students who wish to continue a happy, social, and balanced life post-graduation.

Now just to clarify, it is sometimes necessary to put in a few years to a job you don’t enjoy in order to achieve a job you know for a fact that you would love to do. Investing your time in this way can pay off quite well. As long as you are on the path to a career you will love to do, you’re on the right path.

Now let’s say you find a job you love, but it eats up 60-70 hours a week. Work/life balance is very important to you and you feel this job is too skewed towards working too much. This presents us with a problem.

If you want a good work/life balance, make sure you find a job that gives that to you. If there is a career you enjoy but it doesn’t give you the lifestyle you want, is the tradeoff worth it? Perhaps if you stick with this job and really show your value to your employer, perhaps you can negotiate less hours. It all comes down to the priorities in your life. I personally put a very high value on balancing my work life and my social/personal life, so I would think very carefully before accepting a job that requires you put in long hours.

However, if you find a job you love that gives you the work/life balance you love, take responsibility to create the social experience you miss from college. Meet new people, host parties, reach out, and network. You have to be even more friendly, even more outgoing, even more socially savvy to recreate the almost automatic social scene that college can provide you. Because organizations and clubs aren’t centered on a campus, you must reach out and connect through other means. Join online groups through Yahoo, Google, or smaller niche websites in your area. Google search organizations and clubs in your area. Again, more work must be put in, but the efforts will yield a lot in return. The people who can do this are the people who will go on to see that not only was college the best years of their lives, but their 20s, 30s, and beyond as well.