The first week of your freshman year of college is an experience unlike any other. For many people it’s the first time they’re moving away from home for an extended period of time, as well as the first time they will have to take care of themselves and learn how to “adult.” It’s a fun time, but it’s also crazy, stressful, and emotional.
I’m (thankfully) a sophomore this year, but one of my best friends, Alex, is a freshman at BU. After her first full week I decided to talk to her and compare each of our first week experiences and see just how different your first year at college is compared to all of the years that will follow.
Let’s start with move in. Alex moved in September 2nd, which was the Saturday of BU’s official move-in weekend. Not only was it move-in, it was also Labor Day weekend, so to say Boston was a little crazy would be an understatement. Before she even moved in, she was having the freak out most freshman do, the very same freak out I had last year while I was packing.
Freshman year is a process that begins long before you move in. Trying to figure out what you’re going to need and then buying it all is a daunting task in-and-of itself, let alone attempting to pack and then fit it all into your dorm in an organized and livable manner. Going from your own full size bedroom to half of an already tiny dorm room is like watching a sitcom — it’s a total disaster and trial and error until you get everything just right. Then you wait for it all to fall down and get wrecked the first time you pull a storage box out of your closet or a book off of your shelf.
All in all, according to Alex, move in was “not as bad as I was expecting. I definitely over packed because I was afraid I was forgetting something I needed at home, but the set up with the carts made it easy to move things into the dorm. Everyone there, students directing us where to go and families, were very friendly and welcoming.”
So, score one for BU on making things easy for the freshman. In truth, Alex is living in the same building I lived in last year (GO WARREN) and they make move-in pretty easy.
Now, we get to the hard stuff, which was the first week of classes. The first week of classes were difficult in high school — you were a little freshman who probably didn’t know a ton of people, you had new teachers, and didn’t know where your classes were… but at least it was usually all in the same building. When it comes to college, you’re going from building to building with 15 minutes between classes and that can be a total disaster. My advice to Alex was to go find your classes before school starts so you know where you’re going and aren’t completely frantic on your first day. That being said, I walked into a chemistry class instead of my gender studies class last Wednesday and was that embarrassing since the lecture had already started.
Obviously, the most important part of this experience is the food, and she’s having a great time with it: “I’m honestly in love with the food at Warren. I was worried that I would get tired of the dining hall’s food, but they switch up the variety of food all the time which is really nice.”
While her first week of classes were, “a little bit nerve-wracking, especially because I had never been in a class with more than 25 students,” she found a way to make it work, deciding to sit “towards the front, and that definitely gave the lecture a more personalized feel.” Overall, she managed to get through it all and find that “I feel like I can do this,” even though she’s still concerned about some classes (cough chemistry cough).
I’m overjoyed to hear she has made it over the first few hurdles of move-in and the first week, but it also makes me realize how different things are between freshman and sophomore year. Last year I was over packed, a nervous wreck, and knew very few people in general, let alone in my major. But, having moved in almost two weeks ago, beginning my sophomore experience has allowed me time to reflect on the differences.
This year, I’m not as nervous for my classes because, sure I don’t know anyone in any of my classes, but I’m taking classes I enjoy and I love my professors. Plus I know my way around campus so my chances of getting lost have decreased exponentially (although I did manage to do it last week). With moving in, I knew what I really needed to pack and what I didn’t — my system for organizing is much better. I’ve learned to utilize the smaller space, and I’ve cut down on what I packed in terms of clothes. Lastly, I get to live with my best friends and that has truly been the best part of move-in and dorms. Moving back into college and going through all the crazy first few week jitters and issues is so much easier when you live with the people you can cry to without hesitation.
So, to end this all, freshman year is hard and the first week is crazy and scary, but just like Alex, you can do this. I promise as time goes on it gets easier and you figure things out. Sophomore year had its own challenges, but it has been a smoother transition, and I’m confident the start of junior year will be even easier. Sure, a year doesn’t seem like a ton of time, but a lot can happen. I know that within my first year I figured out so much about my major, my friends, where I wanted to study and spend my time, and how I wanted to spend college. Freshman year is scary, but it’s necessary to push you to have a better sophomore year and years to come.