As a Senior, I feel I have learned a lot in my time here on campus. Mainly I think about all the things I had to learn -- things no one bothered to tell me when I came here, and I kind of had to figure out on my own. Such as...
1. Orientation is the time friendship groups are created... so don't miss out.
Orientation is only a few days long, but it's the first few days of your college career, so therefore they're the most important. People bond quickly over horrible get-to-know-you games and borderline hazing activities; if you fly solo, it's difficult to find your way into a friend group afterwords. Making friends in this is really crucial -- too bad no one ever tells you that.
2. Orientation is nothing like college.
Orientation sucks. I give props to people who decide to be orientation leaders -- that was definitely not the life for me. But going in as a freshman, I had no idea how sucky orientation would be, and I had no clue college wasn't this horrible thing. I only figured it out once it was over, and everything got significantly more laid back.
3. 8 a.m. classes are not a good idea.
This seems so obvious now, but it wasn't as a freshman. Think about it -- high school (at least for me) started at 7:40 a.m. And I had to drive or take the bus, so I obviously had to be ready even earlier than that. So how hard could it be to make it to an 8 a.m. class a three-minute walk from my dorm? Surprise -- it's incredibly difficult. Wish someone had given me a heads up.
4. Pedestrians do not have the right of way.
Cars don't care that you're running late -- as a pedestrian, you don't have rights. They're in a moving metal death trap. You stop. Or you get hit by a car, and maybe they pay for your college or maybe they pay for your funeral... cross at your own risk.
5. You should have a snack bin in your room, always full of snacks.
My biggest mistake was having late-night cram sessions and no food in my room. I fixed that pretty quickly, but I had a few rough nights at the beginning.
6. Google Docs in your friend.
I used to use a key drive and save all my information on that. It was one inch long and I lost it literally all the time. Talk about anxiety. Google Docs saves a lot of stress and pain. I haven't utilized it nearly as much as I should have, and I have regrets about that.
7. You should definitely keep a journal.
This sounds super corny, I know. I didn't take down my freshman year memories, and I have a lot of regrets about that. Freshman year is great (it may have been my best year here), but now I hardly remember it. Only snippets. I wish I had more.
8. You don't always need to read everything assigned.
Little freshy me thought every reading needed to be read thoroughly. What a joke! OK, sometimes you do have to read to understand the content. But not always. Sometimes you don't have to read at all, because it's adequately covered in class. Sometimes skimming is good enough. You just have to figure it out, and never, ever read everything, because it's totally unnecessary.
9. Coffee is your friend.
I never thought I'd come to rely on coffee to stay awake some days. No one ever told me. You can't go overboard, but sometimes it's a truly necessary. Guess I should have considered that.
10. You should have Netflix... but be careful.
Netflix cures all boredom, and it's great for stress relief. But it also can suck you in until you find yourself staring at a screen eight hours later like a zombie. It's a great thing to have, but also a dangerous thing. Be careful.
11. Senate isn't fun. Don't believe their lies.
At Elmira, freshmen are basically fresh meat to pull into Senate. Upperclassmen all lie and say that it's not that bad -- lies. OK, so if you like hearing boring things, maybe it's not that bad. And you stay informed, so that's good. But it's kind of the worst officer position. Here's your clue -- if it's an open position at the beginning of the year... it's because no one wanted it. So. Think about that.
Now that I'm a senior, it's kind of fun to look back and realize all the things people neglected to tell me going into college. Anyone about to go into college this coming fall -- you're welcome. You are now better equipped for the college life!
