College Will Be Paradise (If I'm Not Dead by June)

Illustration by Mannat Vishwa.

College will be paradise, if I’m not dead by June,

Drifting through deadlines with sleep nowhere soon.

My notes are confetti, my thoughts all askew,

Held together by tape and a breakdown or two.

Teachers sell futures that I don’t even want,

While I trade my sleep for marks that they'd love to flaunt.

They say youth is golden and I say it’s a scam,

With a burnt-out smile and a half-written exam.

The walls close in faster every afternoon,

I stare through the lecture and pray for monsoons.

But hope still lingers in my 3 a.m. tunes,

College will be paradise, if I’m not dead by June.

Written: 2025