Bursting from the Freshman Bubble

Christina Mihelich
Kappa Delta

There I sat, trembling with excitement in the backseat of my family’s pickup truck; all my belongings shoved into the back, as we merged onto the 8 freeway. It had been a long summer, and I was more than ready to return to the blissful euphoria that was the college experience. As the car pulled into Greek Circle, I raced into the KD house, into my new room, hastily unpacked, and made myself at home. Ready for a year just like the previous one, I dreamt with joyous anticipation of the days and nights to come.

Then came the preparation week before recruitment, then recruitment itself, and I waited for all of the craziness of the beginning of the year to wear off, but it never did. Then, the realization hit me like a cluster of midterms on Halloween weekend. Freshman year was over. 

Gone are the days when my biggest concern was what time the market closes so I could spend the rest of my meal plan money for the day. No more sleeping off the excitement of the previous night while lying out by the Cuic pool.

Not a single day goes by in which I don’t miss the easy class schedule. But when I think about it, I would gladly trade all of those things for the life I live now. Sure, I can no longer crawl into the dining hall in my pajamas and party bun, but not having to take my Red ID and swipe card everywhere is more of a relief than I could have possibly imagined. Plus, I hardly notice my lack of meal plan now that I have a chef (one of the many perks of living in). 

The late registration date that we sophomores are blessed with does not necessarily categorize under good things, but it teaches us to be proactive and communicative with our professors. See kids, silver lining!

We all wonder what it would be like to be a freshman again with all of our newfound sophomore wisdom. It would have been nice to know why the upperclassmen guys were so friendly the first couple weekends of school. I also wish I would have known that carrying your life on a lanyard around your neck is possibly the biggest red flag out there to non-freshmen. 

Fortunately, when I joined Kappa Delta, I was offered much of this information worlds sooner than I would have otherwise acquired it. My older and wiser sisters taught me very early on to ditch that precious lanyard and invest in a Vera Bradley to tastefully transport my ID and swipe. If it weren’t for them, it would have been much later until I finally got that memo.

Freshmen, do not be discouraged. This may or may not be the best year of your life, but it is entirely up to you to make it so. Some of my best memories of college so far took place in my own little freshman bubble, but I have three more years until I exit the giant bubble of SDSU and hit the deep blue sea with nothing more than a degree and some crazy stories. So fear not, freshmen, for you have endless experiences to look forward to. Enjoy the bubble, spend all of your meal plan money, use those dorm pools, and take advantage of that free ARC membership while you can, because come next year, it will be a distant, beloved memory.

Christina is a sophomore guest writer studying journalism. You may contact her at ccmihelich@aol.com.