Going to school in a big city isn’t easy, especially when you’ve lived in a small town all of your life. Making the adjustment can cause quite a few thoughts to come to mind. Here are a few:
1. Why are there so many people here?
At any given moment, you will find yourself in a sea of people. Students, professors, and passersby are all blended together in a giant crowd as everyone tries to make their way down the street. Were there even this many people in our entire hometown?
2. Wait, where do I know you from?
Before, it was common to see someone you knew every time you left the house. Not only would you know them personally, but you could recite their name, where they live, their parents professions, and their social security number (okay, maybe not that)… but you get the point. With all the people you meet at a huge city school, there are too many encounters to keep track. Seeing someone you recognize on the street launches a mental recollection of every class, event, and errand you’ve partaken in to pinpoint where you’ve seen him or her before. And that burst of recognition usually doesn’t come until class a few hours later…oops.
3. I have classes in how many buildings?
Back in high school, all classes were contained in one small building, where you knew every classroom, hallway, and staircase by heart. It feels like a personal offense that in college, we are forced to trek across campus just to switch classes. So break out those Nikes— you’ll need them to get across Boston for back to back classes!
4. Are all these people here for one class?
We small town girls are used to having the same class of 20 or so people per subject every year. So walking into a 400 person lecture hall the first day of school can leave us wondering if we’re in a classroom or a school assembly. We can only hope the classes get smaller as the years go by!
5. Is it safe to cross the street here?
Back home, there are clear rules as to who gets the right of way when it comes to traveling. In a city, both drivers and pedestrians take more “liberties” when choosing whether to go or not. Cars make right turns regardless of whether there are people on the crosswalk, and people run through cars like it’s a game of Crossy Road. It takes a lot of effort not to end up in a collision on the way to class, and even worse, figuring out how to dodge those bikers!
6. How do I even get around here?
In a small town, there isn’t much need for public transportation. You either have a car, or if you’re in an area blessed with a sidewalk, you can walk a short distance to wherever you need to go. In a city, you have to actually— gulp— walk everywhere! (Cue screams of horror). And if your destination is physically un-walkable, get ready to learn to navigate the T. Unlike back home, where the rare place you didn’t know how to get to on your own was navigable by GPS, the multicolored branching lines of a T map can get pretty daunting, making us look like tourists in our own home. But hey, it’s all part of the experience, right?
7. This costs how much!?
Were everyday necessities really this expensive back home? Index cards that are usually $1 can be found for $3 in the local convenience store, and a $7 eyebrow wax is suddenly $20. And on a college student’s budget? Thanks, but no thanks.
It can be a lot of work adjusting to life in a big city, but with enough experience, we small town girls can make it work!