A Chronicle of a “Prepa”
WE ARE GOING TO COLLEGE
August 10th, the day I left my school uniform, childhood friends, and comfort zone to begin a new phase of my life: University. Great! It may seem exciting and new but for an introvert like me it meant stress, stress, and more stress.
First day and, as always, I was nauseous, hostile, and seriously considering just buying a plane ticket and becoming a nomad. However, I had already paid for the semester so might as well just enter “the new world.”
As a many other “prepas”, I don’t have a car, so on my first day my sister drove me to college. I had to look cool so I made her leave me two blocks away. I walked into the campus and thought “This is it. This is college. The time to meet people, party and get straight A’s”.”(For the record, that day I did not meet anyone and I had not yet partied.)
I walked with my phone and took the longest route to my first class to avoid people or, specifically, the famous “Caza Prepas”. Everything was going great, no one had noticed me and then, my MECU professor said “Oh, you and the other ones talk to me after class since you are all freshmen”. Thank you professor for communicating loud and clear that my sophomore-year act was fake. I appreciate it.
Also, you might have encountered people that always say “you can use your phone and in the first day the professors will not do anything”. LIARS! First class, I couldn’t use my phone and we had already discussed a section. You will be amazed on how fast chapters will be discussed in college.
Then came the moment to eat and the time to just accept your freshman status and your limits. First week: you can’t go ” El Centro”, “Merenderos”, “Fonda”, etc. You know what, just bring food or eat grass, maybe dirt, because – due to the drought – that’s the only thing we have.
Later, after two more classes, I walked another two blocks to get to my mom’s car. “How was your day?” she asked and the only thing I could say was: “Exhausting. Now drive”.
A year has passed and now I am getting the hang of things. Now, I don’t have to look older or search my phone for the schedule. I have met interesting and diverse people which I genuinely like. The work is harder but if you organize yourself, you will do fine.
It’s actually mind blowing how you now see other people with uniforms and you realize, “I am older. I am in college”.
After entering wrong classrooms, getting lost and avoiding society, my friends and I realized that college is a new beginning for everyone who wants it. You get liberty to express your style and opinion. You meet so many different people that every day you notice someone different in your classes and you are actually studying something useful for the future. So many new experiences at the same time that it’s overwhelming.
At the end, even though 80% of the time we feel lost, we feel 100% at home.