It doesn’t take first-year students long to realize that these will be the best and worst years of our lives -- and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Between the homesickness and unfamiliarity, the first couple of weeks of college are rough. We are put into crammed dorm rooms and forced to live with complete strangers. We don’t have our moms here anymore to “baby” us when we aren’t feeling well, and Heaven forbid we have to shower in flip-flops.
It felt more like a nightmare than a "home."
However, before we knew it, we woke up and realized that this place is actually a dream come true -- this place ishome!
Just as quickly as our palates got accustomed to the food our school cafeteria serves, we soon got used to this place. Girls become guilty of running from their rooms to the bathroom late at night in just a T-shirt and hoping there aren’t any guys in the hallway. The people who we once considered strangers, we begin wondering how on Earth we ever lived without. We’ve grown so comfortable and accustomed to this lifestyle.
Despite the countless Instagram posts of us doing the infamous "sorority squat" and having the time of our lives, life as a college student is stressful. Very stressful. Don’t get me wrong, the memories we are making here are priceless. That is, of course, between the random mental breakdowns. Actually finding the time socialize (or eat) is almost as stressful as finding the time in a given week to write a 10-page analysis, read three books, write four papers, and study! This isn’t high school anymore: Studying is an actual thing.
Though our journey has just begun, it’s hard to believe that, at the same time, it’s almost over. Before we know it, commencement will be a thing of the past. We will look back on all of the stress and all-nighters we spent contemplating dropping out, and we'll smile ... and simply wish it hadn't passed by so fast.
We are learning. We are growing. We are college students.
Here’s to the next three and a half years!