Going to college can be stressful for anyone, especially for those who are moving away to further their academic career. You're living on your own for the first time, and it's understandable to experience a wide range of emotions. I remember walking on my campus my freshman year and not knowing what to expect, but I quickly realized that I had nothing to fear.
Chances are that you, a college freshmen, is scared of leaving home or nervous to be living in a dorm or wondering how you're going to juggle school and your job. Let me tell you this, because so many people sugarcoat it:
College is great, but it's the hardest thing you will have done up until this point in your life.
In movies, college is all about fraternities, sororities, frat parties, and underage drinking. Books describe it as the place for people to find out who they want to be. Television depicts it as a place where you spend hours in the library. I want you to know that none of that is true.
Okay, maybe the library part is true. But the rest of it is false.
College is fun. You can spend time with friends and meet new people. However, college is also hard. You have classes and assignments to keep up with, and don't even get me started on clubs and sports and jobs. With all of that, it feels like college is impossible to get through, that the next 2+ years of your life are never going to end, when in reality, your college years will go by so quickly that you won't even have time to blink.
The biggest difference in college is the obvious thing: you're on your own. Your parents aren't there to guide you and fill out your paperwork. You're not holding the hand of your parent while they try to handle paying for everything. You're making your own money and buying your own supplies and making your own memories. You make phone calls and Skype times, but they are not physically there for you. This is the best and worst part to college.
However, there is something a little bit worse than being away from your parents: the stress. Remember everything I mentioned before? It causes you so much stress and anxiety. It makes you want to stay in bed and sleep and avoid your responsibilities and become a hermit, but the only thing to do at these times is to make sure you have things to do to help you destress. For me, I have four coloring books and crayons, colored pencils, and markers to use in them. It's the easiest and cheapest way to unwind during a stressful season.
College is hard and stressful, but with the right friends, it's the place to make the best memories.
