For many UVic students, this last week of the semester also marks the end of first year. The excitement that came before and the adventures experienced have come and have passed. Regardless of where we are now, we all at one point had visions of what we believed university life would be like. In honour of our initial thoughts and in celebration of the upcoming 10th anniversary of the movie we all know and love, Mean Girls (yes, feel old), HerCampusUVic presents to you what you thought first year in university would be like and what it was actually like.
You were super excited for move in day and for your new classes. You were walking into an unknown environment and you were filled with confidence. That is, until you walked into the wrong lecture twice during the first week of classes.
You thought that course you signed up for would be so intriguing you wouldn’t be able to put the books down. Instead, all you wanted to do was throw your textbooks across the room.
You knew you weren’t going to get the same grades that you got in high school but you didn’t realize they’d be that bad.
You thought you’d be able to avoid the Freshman 15 but with Caps open until midnight you found yourself grabbing late night grilled food more than once…
Halloween, however, was exactly what you expected.
You thought you’d be out every weekend because uni was going to be one big party.
But more weekends than you expected were spent in front of a screen watching Netflix.
And when you did go out, you felt like a train wreck the next day.
You thought you and your roomie would be best friends forever but, to be honest, sometimes you wanted to strangle her.
But you wouldn’t have traded those moments for anything because you connected with someone you maybe wouldn’t have otherwise.
While we’re being truthful, you were super nervous about going to a school where you didn’t know anyone! You were scared that people would be mean
and that you’d end up all alone.
You were proven wrong, however, because everyone was so friendly and you made friends easier than you thought you would!
You imagined a blossoming love life due to your new surroundings: an institution filled with smart, cute and mature people.
Unfortunately, some of your conversations weren’t as intellectually stimulating as you would have hoped.
When you did finally find the right person, your affection was sometimes unreturned.
And of course there were the creeps.
You thought you’d be so busy enjoying your independence that you wouldn’t have time to miss home too much. Instead, you found yourself sobbing/ranting/screaming on the phone to a parent or friend on more than one occasion.
You thought you’d be able to stay awake in class better than you did in high school but most days you stared at your prof wondering when class was going to end.
You were prepared to put 100% effort into everyday. You were going to get your homework done on time, not procrastinate on projects and take care of yourself. You gave up quicker than you thought you would.
You thought you’d have no “ragrets” (sorry wrong movie) and that you would look back on your first year in university and smile, thinking “wow, that was the time of my life”. Sadly, there are a lot of moments you are not the proudest of.
Despite some of your failed expectations, you would relive first year in a heartbeat. You met a lot of new people that you are happy to call friends.
You learned important lessons like
and
In the end, you’re happy with your decision and can’t wait for another great year!