Under-

1.It’s hard.

College is super awesome and many would say it’s the time of your life. You have freedom that you didn’t before and its likely your first chance to really start feeling like an adult. But, I don’t think anyone explains that college is so much harder than high school. I took AP’s and honors classes and I was pretty decently involved throughout high school, and so were so many of my college peers. And yet, I don’t think any of us sit around with free time wondering what Oreo’s to eat next, unless we are procrastinating to the max. College is a time to try new things, find yourself, and have an amazing time. But it is also the time to get serious and realize there is still a ton of work to be done.

2.You have to really learn how to study.

When I heard this I thought for the longest time that I wouldn’t be falling into this trap. I thought since I studied in high school, college studying would be a breeze. Boy was I wrong. In high school I put studying off until a couple days before the test, often times until the day before. And most of the time, it still paid off. In college, I’ll start studying a full week before my exam and still feel unprepared. Just doing the homework isn’t enough material anymore. I’m spending time completing flashcards, study guides, rereading, googling definitions, and all the sorts for one exam. And I’ve come to realize that if you really want to benefit from studying in college, you need to be reviewing daily or at least weekly what you’ve learned. It’s not enough to wait until the end to learn it all. And now we are all wondering, how do we have time for that? Yeah… I’ll let you know when I finally figure that out.

3.There’s no need to stress right now.

People are constantly saying, you can take that major or that class and everything will be fine. “You’re a freshman so you’re just taking care of general-education requirements, there’s no need to stress if you don’t get into the classes you want this semester.” What a load of crap. A lot of majors require you to take certain classes your freshmen year in order to be on-time for your major. So actually, if I don’t get in and its only offered in the fall, then yeah it is a pretty big deal. If you want to do a major and a minor or a double major, then yeah its super important to plan your classes accordingly to get all the requirements in within your four years here. And yet I feel like this is continually thrown to the side as no big deal, especially if you’re a freshman. Well you’re right, there’s no need to stress if you don’t care how many years it takes to graduate.

Over-

1.You finally get to take all the classes that you really want to.

Just like high school, almost all colleges have general-education requirements or pre-rec classes you have to take to either graduate or to take the classes you really want to take. That being said, college isn’t all unicorns and rainbows. Freshmen and sophomore year you are going to have to suck it up and take some classes you don’t want to. Then again, sometimes this can help you discover an interest you were unaware of before. Or, in my case, it can reiterate how awful I am at Spanish.

2.Being on your own is awesome.

Independence is greatness. But, it also comes at a cost. In high school it was pretty easy to meet with a counselor and figure out what you were going to do about college apps, etc. In college you have to talk to about five different people, email them (go see them in person if they don’t get back to you) just to figure out if taking class abc is a good idea for your major. You have to put a lot more effort in to get answers because you are completely in charge of your own education. That being said, you get to choose what you do with your time. You have time between classes or before dinner, whenever it is, there is technically ALWAYS time. It’s simply a matter of what you do with that time, hence why everyone feels like they have no time. Do you take a nap, study for your next test, do some homework, work, participate in a sport or club meeting? The possibilities are endless; the issue is you’re trying to fit 90% of those things all into one hour. Good luck :)

However, while scrolling through Twitter last week I discovered a quote from someone that my roommate and I are using to motivate us: "College is hard, but not as hard as life without a degree."