The Freshman Fifteen: No, I’m not talking about the infamous weight gain that unfortunately finds most of us during our first year of college. I’m talking about the fifteen things you must do your freshman year. Freshman year comes and goes so quickly and it’s impossible to fit everything in, but of all the things to do with your new found freedom, these are the things that make the college memories that will last a lifetime.
1. Get Lost on Campus- Walking around with a confused look on your face attempting to find your classroom in the Haley Center is one of the tell-tale signs of a freshman. It happened to us, it will happen to you. Actually, it still happens to me.
2. Roll Toomer’s- Okay so maybe it’s not exactly Toomer’s Oaks anymore, but nothing beats celebrating an Auburn victory at Toomer’s Corner with all of your best friends (especially now that we’re winning again!). Plus, some of the cutest pictures you’ll ever take will against the backdrop of toilet paper and chaos.
3. Spring Break- A week of debauchery on the beach? Sign me up! Spring break is a week where all of your cares are thrown out the window. For one week, life turns into sun, swimsuits and sex on the beach (the drink, of course.) What could be better?
4. Get Involved- I don’t know about y’all, but I am not the type of person who can just make friends out of nowhere. That’s why I got involved. “You’re in SGA too?” Boom. Insta-friend.
5. Pull an All-Nighter- It could be on the fourth floor of RBD or in your best friend’s dorm room. Staying up all night is a must-do for your first year; and every year past that, to tell the truth.
6. Sleep Through A Class- Usually the aftermath of pulling an all-nighter. Sad, but true.
7. Make a Friend in a Bathroom- I don’t know why, but for whatever reason, girls forge mysteriously strong bonds on trips to the bathroom (whether during class, at a fraternity, or downtown). Whether we go to fix our hair or to avoid an awkward conversation, the bathroom is Girl Talk Central Station. Crying, getting sick, gossiping about the cute boy you’re talking to, it all happens in the bathroom. It’s where friendships are made, tested and strengthened.
8. Take a Spontaneous Road Trip- What’s a better way to spend a bi-weekend than driving to Atlanta? Or maybe it’s the beach. Who knows, who cares? Grab your friends, get in the car and go.
9. Take a Personal Day- Class is hard, college is hard, life is hard and sometimes you just can’t. So don’t. Skip class, throw on a face mask and rewatch the entire fifth season of Gossip Girl, because this is college, and you can.
10. Bar Crawl- College is the time to test your limits, and one of those limits is alcohol. Bar crawls are the perfect opportunity to separate the light weights from the champs, and the pictures you take to keep track of the night are hilarious proof of a night you’ll never actually remember.
11. Make a New School Year Resolution- This year you’re going to work out three times a week and stay on top of your homework. A new school year means a new you, and your schedule works perfectly so you can go to the Rec in between your morning classes and the library after class is done. Your plan is perfect and this year will be great.
12. Break Your New School Year Resolutions- Let’s face it, your morning breaks are the perfect time to accidentally bump into the cutie in your chem class at Starbucks and after class is over, you need a nap. But it’s the thought that counts. right?
13. Crazy Two in the Morning Wal-Mart Trips- You go in looking for paper and you come out with a bookshelf and 32 new selfies of yourself in the ball basket. Admit it, you’ve always wanted to get in it, and when you’re deliriously tired and trying to extend your study break, you’ll do it. You’ll also ride the bikes, have a sword fight, discuss how kids these days have the coolest toys and you weren’t that lucky when you were a kid, and buy ice cream.
14. Spend All of Your Money in One Night- First you go to dinner, then drink specials, then regular drinks, then Willie’s for fourth meal, and then finally call it a night. By the time you check your account in the morning, the number is so low you confuse it for your GPA. Call your parents and give them some reason why you needed to spend the money, get more, then do it again.
15. Mess Up- Don’t sweat it, it’s what freshman year is for.