College. The only time in your life when you’ll have insurmountable amounts of freedom and joy. That is until orientation ends, and you realize that you’re actually living in this new place for learning. This can be quite a rude awakening, but it is not the only nasty shock that you’ll encounter as a freshman in college...
EXPECTATION: I will meet a huge group of my absolute best friends on day one, and we will be inseparable for the next four years.
REALITY: Think of all of your best friends from growing up. Those are people that you went to school with for a very long time, and you had years to develop those friendships. The first few days (or weeks) of college, all of us freshmen are terrified. Therefore, most people are probably not acting like their authentic selves. With time, more and more people will start to seem like awesome potential friends.
EXPECTATION: My professors will be understanding that I am new to college, and they will keep things fairly simple in the beginning.
REALITY: Before I even attended your first class, I was having assignments emailed to me. These professors do not mess around, and they want to show freshmen the real world (which is stressful, scary, and exhausting) right from the beginning.
EXPECTATION: The Freshman Fifteen is a myth. I’m gonna work out regularly and be super fit from walking all over campus!
REALITY: There is a Chinese restaurant on campus. And a Jamba Juice. Next to a Starbucks. All conveniently located underneath the dining hall with unlimited cookies and ice cream at dinner time. Yes, there is a great gym, but it takes a lot of self control and discipline to force yourself to get up and work out. And let’s be honest - do college students always have self control and discipline?
EXPECTATION: We are going to go out and party every single night! Yay for freedom!
REALITY: You spend your whole day trekking around campus, listening to professors drone on, and doing more homework than you ever could have imagined. After a full day, nothing sounds better than just spending time in your bed with Netflix. Sure, a party every once in awhile can be fun and take your mind off of things, but the reality is that you’re going to prefer sleep a lot of the time.
EXPECTATION: College students are always just exaggerating about being broke.
REALITY: Sure, you may have saved up a nice sum of money for the school year. But when you factor in food, going out, shopping, and other random “necessities,” you realize that money doesn’t stick around forever. Maybe now you can appreciate all of the times your parents paid for your snacks, shampoo, and notebooks for school….
EXPECTATION: I’ll be able to just sleep in whenever I want and miss class if I need to. I already know the assignments, so it’s not a bad idea at all!
REALITY: Teachers know you’re thinking this, and so they put their attendance policy as the first thing on the syllabus. More often than not, your final grade can drop down entire letter grades with too many absences. So unless you’re on your deathbed or have a real emergency, go to class. Even sitting in the back completely hungover will benefit you in the long run.
Don’t be alarmed. Even though you’ll be faced with a lot of unexpected surprises, the first few weeks of college are also going to be unforgettable in absolutely amazing ways.
Special thanks to my awesome roomie Abigail for helping me brainstorm this list. Thanks for being my partner in crime as we (try to) navigate these crazy first few days of college!
