Recent high school grads, soon-to-be college first years, get excited. At Whitman, at least, there are only about five weeks left until you move in to start your first semester of college. This time last year, I was equal parts nervous, excited and overwhelmed. I was lucky enough to attend a summer pre-orientation program that gave me more of an idea of what to expect in the upcoming year. Even still, there are a lot of things I wish I’d been told before I got to campus. Here are some of the things I had to learn on my own, to save you some of my pain.
You’re going to annoy upperclassmen.
I’m sorry, it’s inevitable. And understandable. Your first semester away from home is a whirlwind of freedom and excitement, and you don’t always realize how loud you are. First semester, my friends and I went to the library together most nights to “work on homework” and “study” together. This was super unproductive and resulted in multiple passive aggressive Yik Yak posts asking us to shut up. Oops. Regardless, don't let it get to you; even the intimidating seniors were in your place once.
You don’t need as much stuff as you think you do.
I, along with almost everyone I know, brought way more to college than I needed. When packing my dorm room at the end of the year, I found so many things I never touched or used. Especially if you’re flying to college or live really far away, try to be more selective of what you take with you instead of cramming absolutely everything in boxes/suitcases. You’ll thank yourself later.
You may not be as widely involved as you think you will.
Everyone has that listserv they signed up for at the activities fair. Two weeks later you don’t remember why you did and a year later you’re still on it without ever having gone to a meeting. (Mine was archery.)
You don’t have to be best friends with your roommate.
It’s not always good to live with someone exactly like you. You and your roommate may be super close, you may secretly hate each other, you may fall somewhere in between. Regardless, you should try to get along with them. But if you really don’t click, then it’s not the end of the world to change roommates mid-year.
Staying up late every night is only fun at first.
I hung out with people until 2 a.m. every night of orientation and ran almost entirely on adrenaline. It was great. Then, as classes picked up and midterms/finals drew closer, I was up until 2 a.m. every night reading for class. Sleep is important. Treasure it.
There will always be cookies in the dining hall.
You don’t always have to eat them. The "Freshman 15" is a real thing and while that’s totally OK, self control is also great.
You won’t like everyone.
Just like in high school, you aren’t going to click with everyone you meet. Unlike in high school, you don’t have to put up with those people. Campus is big and filled with people. You don’t have to be friends with people you don’t want to just to keep the peace. You’ll find your people, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them and you won’t care about who you don’t get along with.
You will miss your family and your pets.
(Basically actual footage of me being reunited with my dog.)
Even if you currently can’t wait to get out of your house, you’re going to get homesick at some point. Everyone does, and it’s completely OK. The beautiful thing about college is that you can form a family-away-from-family. And that there are always people walking their dogs.
