This isn’t your typical “what I learned in my freshman year of college” article.

This is the truth.

Going into my first year at Syracuse University, I really had no idea what to expect other than cold weather and a pretty top notch education. The few ideas that I had in mind about freshman year at a medium sized university were based off stories from one of my best friends who had already finished her first year at University of Georgia, and, well, the media. You don’t realize until after you have lived the life of a student on a college campus in a shoebox-sixed dorm, that any disappointments you may have had were from expectations that you didn’t even know existed. What you think college will be like is a lot of the time based off of how college is portrayed in TV shows and movies, which is just not true.    

The reality of your first semester of college is that you will most likely not make best friends in an instant, and the friends you do make may not be like the same kind of people that you were friends with in high school. This is something that I suffered through a lot during my first year, trying to find other students that could replace my closest friends from home while I was away at school. College has a funny way of revealing who you really are in a world that you didn’t even know existed after high school, and because of that, it is important to stay open minded to the people you meet. Something I did learn pretty early on in my first semester is the kind of people who I didn't want to be friends with. I wasn't willing to give up on who I was in order to make friendships that I knew were superficial and wouldn't end up lasting anyway. Real friendships take time to grow, and by second semester, you will be surprised by how many different friends you will have made from places like your dorm hall, within your major, or through campus involvement.

Whether it be through a club, sports team, or Greek life, getting involved on campus will give you a special experience and introduce you to new people and ideas that are guaranteed to make your college experience that much better. When you surround yourself with people that have the same interests or morals as you, how can you not have a good time? The first step towards getting involved, especially when you are the smallest fish in the biggest pond as a freshman in college, can be hard and discouraging. It isn’t as easy as going to an audition and trying-out for an Acapella group and making it the first time like Becca did in the movie, "Pitch Perfect". Being a freshman, it can be difficult to get accepted into groups and clubs you have to try-out or audition for because you don't have those connections of knowing people like upper classmen have. However, there is SOMETHING for everyone, it will probably just take more time and effort to find.  

Something that I think Syracuse students have perfected is having a balanced "work hard, play hard" mind set. A lot of the time in movies and TV shows, you will see students attending these out of control extravagant college parties and hardly ever see them studying for exams or doing homework. Don’t get me wrong, college parties are fun and definitely crazy at times (especially at Syracuse) but you aren’t going to find any bras hanging off overhead lights and naked girls walking around like you would see in an episode of Blue Mountain State or GREEK. You're also going to have harder work in college than what you may have experienced in high school, and as much fun as it is to go out, in order to do well you are going to have to stay in some weekends. Parties can be so much fun, but it's also important to be responsible, never travel alone late at night, and keep in mind that you are at college to get an education. It isn’t going to be one big party the entire four (or more) years that you’re there.     

College student to college student, I had some of my highest "highs" and my lowest "lows" throughout my first year of college. Unlike how college is portrayed in the media, there are going to be nights when you’re up all night writing that midterm essay and times when you feel like you need to call your parents because you’re feeling homesick. Don’t be surprised if you can’t find an open party that first weekend, or if you aren’t sure who your real friends when you come home for Thanksgiving break. The transition from high school to college is a roller coaster ride, but after some time and getting used to how things go, you will finish your first year wishing that it would never end, even if it wasn’t perfect like the movies.