My first semester at WKU has come and gone…and I still can’t believe I finished my first semester of college! I can still remember my first days of school throughout all the years. Of course, like any other new journey, I had my reservations about starting college. I was worried about moving away from home, meeting new people, and managing to not flunk out of college. Oh, and obviously I wasn’t too thrilled about community style bathrooms either, but I would say these are fairly normal concerns for any college Freshman, but at least they are all things we knew in advance would have to happen.

As we are approaching Spring semester, we are all thinking of ways to make this one better than the last. Now that we’ve had some experience on the hill, it’s like we’re basically experts concerning Western Kentucky University, right? Although I can definitely say my first semester of college was an absolute success, there are a few things I wish I had known before moving to WKU.

My Personal List of Things I Wish I Had Known:

For starters, anyone who may be attending WKU in the future, you should know that Bell Tower across from the football field will become you and your naptime’s worst enemy. Guthrie, I understand you want us all to embrace every 15 minutes that have passed, but I really could use that time to nap in peace.

Okay, so you’re about to realize sleep is pretty important to me…there’s this very generous man that feels the need to show up outside of my residence hall at the most inconvenient hours and make the most awful ruckus you’ve ever heard in your life. Yep, that’s the garbage man and it doesn’t matter if you’re studying or sleeping like a normal person at 4:30 am. I can guarantee you, he will interrupt for a solid 30 minutes.

I got a mini fridge as a graduation present and this was one of my favorite gifts. I didn’t know that fridge would become mine and my roommate’s worst nightmare. Did you know you can’t just keep food in it and pretend there’s no maintenance? Apparently if you don’t empty the little tray of built up water in the back of it, your room will smell like dead animals and chunks of God knows what will takeover your tray.

This is going to make me sound really naïve, but am I the only one that didn’t know what “Thirsty Thursday” was before I started college? Why everyone can’t just wait to party on the weekend, I’ll never understand…but Thursday’s are no joke. All you screaming girls walking outside to or from a party, if you hear a siren, I can assure you that’s probably coming from Bemis Lawrence. Have your fun, but do us all a favor and be quiet coming back in while we’re trying to sleep.

Last but definitely not least, I wish I had known how my friend situation would be when the semester ended. I was so nervous to make new friends, but the third floor made sure I would be given a group of friends that would never leave my side. Sadly, several bonds have been broken as we’ve went our separate ways but this semester has proved who my true friends are back home.

Since I have my own list of what I wish I knew before I started college, I became curious on what other people wish they had known before their first semester. While these are all students at WKU, maybe you go to another school and wish you knew some of the same things. Remember, no matter what school you attend, as college students, we’re all in this together.

“In your first year, you will have to take a lot of general education classes that will make it feel like high school again.” -MS

“I wish I would have known that I would probably eat pizza five times a week” -AS

“I wish I knew how far away from home four hours really is, because you never really think it’s that far.” -AS

“I wish I would have known about the on campus clubs and activities ahead of time.” -TA

“I wish I knew that I shouldn’t go into college having a boyfriend. It hold you back in so many ways and I wouldn’t have done it if I had known it would hurt my college experience.” -HH

“I wish I knew that you didn’t have to give your whole life to studying to get good grades. Going in, everyone said how hard it was and how much time it took up, and yeah it can be difficult, but I went in more stressed. And you can have a fun time in college without studying all the time and making good grades.” -JR

“You don’t have to try as hard to fit in. Just be friendly and nice. College is based on who you are as a person rather than who you are or how much money you have.” -SB

“I wish I would’ve branched out from the first couple of people that I first met. It took a while to find MY people because I cling onto the first couple of friends I made within the first week.” -SH

“I wish I knew that people without a meal plan card would be treated like outcast idiots.” -RS

“I wish I knew how big of an adjustment it really is living with someone you’ve never met before.” -CF

“My roommate has pink hair and sleeps during the day but is up all night. Once you get over the smell of body odor, weed, and cigarettes, he’s an alright dude. I wish I knew this was coming.” -CM

“I wish I would have known that I was allergic to red wine before I came to college!” -LC

“My freshman year roommate was a friend I had growing up and we had drifted apart in high school. She smoked, she never picked up her side of the room and I was LITERALLY her college mom but I wouldn’t take It back for anything. I wish I would’ve known she wasn’t coming back to WKU because I would’ve cherished the mess of it a little more.”-SH

“I wish I had known to research my professors beforehand and to make sure to try to switch teachers if one didn’t have a good review.” -AS

“I wish I would have known the effort it really takes.” -LC

“He’s a college boy instead of a high school boy, still not a man.” -MI