With each day of the new semester, I hear of another drop out. Some are friends from Grand Valley State University, others from my high school. First semester seems to have a way of weeding out freshmen.

At some point we all wonder, “Why are we here?” Some of us ask this question in the midst of a huge assignment. Frustration. Some of us miss high school, our friends, our family or being at home. Homesick. Others don’t feel like they fit in. Lonely. After failing a test we studied so hard for. Defeat. When our bank account is reaching empty. Broke. We’re young; we could be traveling and having life-changing experiences. Desire.

We’re paying thousands of dollars for a degree that may not even result in a job. If we’re going to end up in food service or some other low-income job later anyway, why don’t we just start now? We could work full time and actually make money instead of exhausting our funds to pay for that philosophy textbook that is completely irrelevant to our intended major. We could save. We could get the house, get the car and get whatever it is we’re working for. Isn’t that the point? Aren’t we paying so much and studying so hard so that we can afford those luxuries?

Some people who drop out do lead very successful careers. Mark Zuckerburg is a go to. Facebook was a huge success. Ellen DeGeneres, Steve Jobs, Oprah, Brad Pitt…it’s definitely possible to be happy and to end up finding something you love, but it’s extremely rare.

No, it’s not like high school. You can’t just get by on the bare minimum. College is difficult. Studying is not a suggestion, it’s a necessity. Skipping is money. If you miss an assignment the teachers aren’t going to keep emailing you and changing due dates. It’s a lot of self-reliance, prioritizing, money. College isn’t for everyone.

Some of us get stuck in this reevaluation phase. Some of us do drop out. Some of us end up like Bill Gates. Some act, dance, sing, invent…some work at McDonald’s. Some of us end up on welfare. Some of us will never get out of the state.

Others, the ones reading this, have persisted so far. For some reason, that question didn’t stop us. We cried or called our parents or talked to our friends. Something happened that made us stay. We are here for a reason. It’s different for everybody. But we’ve made it this far, we’ve worked this hard, we’ve paid this much. We’re on the way to getting a degree in something we are passionate about. We are making a better life for ourselves.

And no, nothing is for sure. We might not get our dream job or be insanely successful because of our degree, but we do have a slightly better chance. We are making an effort. We are continuing our education, expanding our knowledge. We’re making everything our high school teachers, everything our parents did, worth it. And that’s something to be proud of.