The first thing I realized about college is that it was simultaneously everything and nothing like what I had anticipated. Thanks to movies, television shows, social media, my father’s old fraternity stories, etc., I arrived at my higher learning institution with ideas already established in my mind about what was to come in the next four (five? ugh) years.

Within the first two weeks of school, it is likely that you will have experiences that play right into the college stereotypes (everyone repping Vineyard Vines merch, pizza as currency). What I have come to realize is that the best way to adapt to the turbulent college lifestyle is to treat it like an experiment.

In undertaking this endeavor, it is crucial that you both participate in and observe the goings-on about campus. Luckily, college doesn’t really allow you to not participate (I mean, you at least gotta go to classes, right?) so that’s one thing you don’t have to worry about. It’s the observing part that is tricky, though, because it requires you to think objectively. And yeah, it’s kind of hard to observe the lives of your fellow college students without any judgment, especially because college (as you quickly come to realize) does not exist within the realm of normalcy.

Just to reinforce the idea that college life is not real life, I have compiled a list of things spotted on/around my own campus over the last several years. All of these examples are described exactly as they have been witnessed. A lot of these things might seem strange, but they might also seem “normal,” depending on your school.

• A student reaching into her plastic TMNT backpack to retrieve an authentic oriental hand fan which she then used to fan herself periodically over the course of class.
• Professors talking about memes in a way that makes you unsure as to whether or not they aim to be relatable or just actually enjoy memes.
• A boy running to class, tripping, and proceeding to simply lie face down on the ground for a few minutes. Did not appear to have lost consciousness, he merely seemed to have given up.
• An adviser claiming to understand the plight of an English major worried about finding a job later on, but then recommending picking up a Celtic Studies minor.
• Horses being a controversial subject. Always.
• A girl taking every opportunity she can to remind her classmates about the Buddhism class she took last semester, and how everything she’s learning relates back to the time she studied in Budapest.
• Everyone being sweaty, confused, and utterly done at all times, and yet the hope persists that complaining about it constantly will somehow alleviate the condition.
• A particular person’s name being mentioned so often that everyone seems privy to all of their intimate life details despite having never met them or even seen their face.
• A man periodically walking his two ferrets around campus.
• Two different students in two completely different classes bringing up Macklemore’s “Same Love” to prove a point.
• A professor claiming that M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village is the greatest movie of all time.
• An entire row of students watching a bug crawl across another student’s back, while doing nothing to alert him of the unfolding incident.
• People referring to Harry Potter as a lifestyle.
• A male student taking a class about portrayals of women throughout history raising his hand to inform the professor that he wished there had been more discussion of men.
• People referring to Netflix as a lifestyle.
• A female student accidentally showing the entire class a drawing of anime characters in a graphic, compromising situation while giving a presentation.
• Students writing all over the cubicles in the library, sometimes to leave behind inspirational quotes or comments, sometimes to claim a particular sorority likes “eating horse poo.”
• People referring to Taco Bell as a lifestyle.

As you have read, my experiment has yielded some particularly interesting results. Now, of course, as any student who has taken a 100-level science class knows, it’s time to figure out what exactly the results mean.

In my own experience, I’ve found that these seemingly strange observations make excellent stories when you go home for the holidays, and can even be used as fodder for the memoir you’re already writing.

However, I’ve also come to realize that even though everything you experience in college is nothing like what the “real world” could inevitably be, you might be able to learn a thing or two from your observations. After all, if college teaches you anything, it’s that sometimes you just gotta roll with it.

So, observe a little. Take in your surroundings and free yourself from judgment. You’re a part of one of the most unique social situations you will probably ever be in, and you’re only gonna be able to take advantage for a few years (hopefully). Allow yourself to do some (safe) experimenting. College is ripe with chances to learn a thing or two, and a lot of that knowledge you won’t even have to pay for if you just keep your eyes open.