I do feel nostalgic about my college, but realistically, I'd never be able to do it all over again. Once I looked at two pics of myself: full afro before college, and almost completely bald after college, and I immediately felt that this is the right way to describe that time.
But I have to say that I do miss interacting with people much smarter than myself. And the general atmosphere that great things await. I think it was very challenging time, but the belief in bright future allowed to push through. Now that I'm stuck in a pointless corporate job and it's dawning upon me that "this is it" and most of my life aspirations are not coming true, I can't help but feel helplessly pointless.
I don’t know what pointless corporation you’re in, but when I got in to Google at age 37 it did in several ways feel like college again, with the obvious geniuses and ‘we can do anything, if they don’t lay us off first’ vibe.
We construct meaning, one way or the other. From one point of view, we are grains of sand to the universe. From another, we are friends, family, colleagues, and more.
I know what it is like to not achieve what you want in the timeframe you want. But with effort you can renegotiate what matters most and adjust your aim.
But I have to say that I do miss interacting with people much smarter than myself. And the general atmosphere that great things await. I think it was very challenging time, but the belief in bright future allowed to push through. Now that I'm stuck in a pointless corporate job and it's dawning upon me that "this is it" and most of my life aspirations are not coming true, I can't help but feel helplessly pointless.