The first week of your freshman year of college will be full of a lot of, well, firsts. From orientation to your first days of classes you're going to be somewhere between excited, terrified, or absolutely dead depending on what you're looking for out of college. Sure, it goes differently for everyone, and any person you ask will have their own stories for you, but there is a general way that things go, and this is a compilation.
You'll try to act cool when your parents are moving you in, don't.
This is probably the last time for a long time that your parents are going to be doing something for you. Let them. Humor them when they try to put everything where they think it should go, even if you're going to change it as soon as they leave. You may be ecstatic to leave home and embrace the new life of freedom, but they're sending off one of their babies. Don't try and act like the cool one who doesn't care about their parents, hug them and hug them twice because there's going to be a late night where all you want is a hug from your mom or a good talk with your dad to get you back on track. You're about to stick your foot into the big pool of adulthood, and getting used to the water doesn't always happen too quickly.
Make sure you and your roommate decide if you're sharing, and what.
Trust me, it might be awkward to sit down and set things straight about how cool you are with sharing, but it's better off that way. It saves you a lot of trouble if you don't want your roommate eating all of your snacks, or if you eat all of theirs' and then a huge fight ensues. Set your limits, you guys are going to live together for a very long time, you'll want them eventually. If you aren't one of the lucky ones that already knows your roommate, good luck, random assignments can go really great and really badly. Hopefully, you got a good one. I'll pray for you.
Introducing yourself to a ton of different people can get tiresome.
Unless you're blessed with great conversational skills, you'll probably stumble over introductions with everyone like I did, and when people ask you to describe yourself eventually you'll just desperately explain yourself like Phoebe. Obviously, you want to seem cool so that you can make new friends and not wander around aimlessly alone, but it's hard to sum yourself up. Don't be that person that tells your entire life story the first time you meet someone, no one is really interested in the soccer award you got in second grade, they're just looking for someone not weird to sit with in the dining hall.
Speaking of the dining hall...
Honestly, you're truly #blessed if your dining hall has edible, let alone good food. The "Freshman Fifteen" doesn't come from caf food, it comes from ordering out so much because the caf food tastes like crap. I wish I could say that was a lie, and I truly hope you have great food, but you probably won't. Familiarize yourself with your local pizza places and other food options, you'll need them. Bonus, a lot of times they have student discounts! Always ask, it's okay, we're all broke and in this together.
Somehow you'll get talked into going out, or you'll be the one doing the talking.
Frats will open and welcome in all the freshman trying to find the party scene. If you're into parties, you're probably already all over it. If you're not, try getting out of your comfort zone and going to one, you might like it. You also might hate it, in which case you just leave, it's really that simple. Don't go alone, though; get a party buddy! Also, you should probably avoid randomly hooking up with a ton of people, you know, you have all year, you don't need to make your rounds in the first week, but if you're into it, by all means, go ahead. Party safely kids.
There are two types of people during the first days of classes.
Either you're Rachel, completely lost looking at the syllabus or the class materials wondering what the hell is going on, or you're Joey, already dying to get out of class even though it's the first day and all you've done is discuss what you're going to cover that semester. Maybe you're neither, perfectly prepared and ready to take on the world, meaning you're part of the elite third party. If you've got it all together, here's a pat on the back for you, I hope you keep it that way. Develop good study habits, quickly, and find at least two people in every class that you can get notes from when you inevitably miss or skip class because you just can't roll out of bed for your 8 am.
Find hobbies other than sleeping, this is prime time, go to that activities fair even if you think it's lame.
Sleep is fantastic, in college you're going to feel like you can never get enough of it, but don't waste all of your free time napping; go out and join clubs, get involved. The activities fairs held during the orientation period may seem lame, but going to them is super beneficial and you'll find clubs and groups you didn't even know existed. Join a bunch of them, and if they turn out to be not for you, it's usually not a big deal to quit. Don't spread yourself too thin, of course, but clubs and organizations are not only a great way to meet new people with similar interests, but more involvement will look better on a resume later on, it's time to start thinking ahead about those things.
Try to have Phoebe-like enthusiasm about everything you're doing.
While this can be applicable to trying to get or stay fit in college, Phoebe Buffay has unreal enthusiasm about life and if you can master a mindset like hers things will go a lot more smoothly. When you're absolutely miserable and grumpy it makes everything so much worse, have a positive outlook and be optimistic, this is just the beginning. It's okay to be scared and nervous, but don't write off your professors or your roommate right off the get go. Being hateful is really tiring, so channel your inner happy-go-lucky Phoebe and do your best to smile every day.
You might just meet your best friends this week.
Through all the weird ice-breakers and awkward first conversations, you might find some of your best friends. Sure, some people don't stay friends with the first people that they meet, but that's definitely not always the case. Don't write people off, get to know them and be open to different kinds of people, college will probably be more diverse than high school. If you do find the good ones fast, hold on tight, because they'll be there for you when things get rough.
College has its ups and downs, and the first week may be intimidating and especially chaotic, but take it in stride, and most importantly, have fun.
