Everyone has expectations about their first year of college, but how many of these hopes and fears are accurate? Here are six freshman year expectations and the realities behind them.
1. Expectation: I’m at a huge college so I won’t be able to connect with anyone.
Reality: There are a lot of people at VCU and that can be overwhelming to anyone, but particularly for students who come from smaller towns or cities. Maybe you won’t click with anyone the first week of classes or maybe you will, but I promise that if you open up and put yourself out there you will meet some pretty cool people. A plus of going to a large university is that there are a ton of awesome people waiting to come into your life, but if you’re always in your room with the door closed you probably won’t meet them. Spending time on your own is healthy and important, but too much of anything isn’t healthy for anyone. As freshmen, students have an opportunity to flip to a new page in the book of life so take a chance and join a new club, talk to the person sitting next to you in class, if someone invites you to hang out with them say yes. If you open yourself up to the idea of meeting new people they will definitely find their way to you.
2. Expectation: College is all just one big party.
Reality: Yes people party in college. Yes college parties like the ones you’ve seen in movies do exist. Does that mean that everyone parties in college? No. Does that mean that people who party in college spend all their time partying? No! While many people think that parties are the quintessential part of a college experience, everyone seems to forget that to stay in college you kind of have to you know, pass your classes and stuff like that. If students were partying 24/7 they wouldn’t be here semester after semester because they would have flunked out. Sure, freshman year seems like the perfect time to slack off, but trust me, that first semester bad GPA will come back to haunt you. So if you want to party, just remember that eventually you are going to have to pass your classes to stay on campus. Studying smartly is important, but partying smartly is super important if that’s something you want to do.
3. Expectation: Freshman Fifteen!
Reality: It’s not a myth necessarily, but it also doesn’t plague every single freshman on campus. It can be difficult to make time for exercise and figuring out a healthy diet with the school’s meal plan is a challenge, but it all can be done. The buddy system can be an effective tool here. Also, if you are having trouble with extra pounds, VCU has resources to help you.
4. Expectation: Living in a dorm is going to be awful.
Reality: Is your freshman year dorm going to be the best place you ever live in your entire life? I sincerely hope not, but it also doesn’t have to be an unbearable experience. Sharing a room with someone is difficult whether you know them beforehand or not; the best thing to do if you have a roommate is to give one another space even if you are BFFs. If you’re having problems with your roommate, talk to your RA; this isn’t a permanent living situation and you don’t deserve to be miserable for the entire year. Sometimes you have to accept that you might be the problem in your dorm room; if that’s the case make sure you and your roommate are communicating effectively. The fact of the matter is that at the end of the day the only person you have to live with for the rest of your life is yourself, so make sure you’re being the type of person you want to live with. If you’re in a dorm with communal bathrooms, be prepared for a mess — it’s the sad reality of dorm life, unfortunately. And above all else, remember that someone has to clean the bathrooms. Don’t leave unneccessary messes for VCU’s custodial staff. It’s rude and once again unnecessary. I’m not saying you have to unclog toilets or anything, but you can flush them, prevent the showers from making a lake in the middle of the bathroom and ladies you know where used feminine products belong. For the most part dorm life is what you make of it, so for a positive experience adopt a positive attitude.
5. Expectation: My parents, teachers and almost every other authority figure in my life have told me that college is going to be super tough and completely different from high school! I’m never going to have any free time!
Reality: In high school, “wait until you get to college” seemed to be a mantra among teachers and administrators alike. If you turned in a paper late it was, “in a college course you won’t get a second chance!” “No one is going to tell you to study in college,” was another favorite at my school. Here’s the thing: college and high school are very different entities, but it’s not like the world of school turns completely upside down. You’re going to have good professor and bad professors just like you had good teachers and bad teachers. For some students the work load changes completely once they’re out of high school and for others it stays the same. I know that during my first semester freshman year I was actually overwhelmed by how underwhelmed I felt about my assignments because I had always been told college was going to be ridiculously difficult compared to high school. The biggest difference between high school and college is that in college you have more control over your education, so use that power wisely. Also, I’ve gotten an extension on a paper before; not all professors do that, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility here.
6. Expectation: Now that I’m in college I’m going to know exactly who I am and what I want.
Reality: I wish that the world was a magical place where stepping onto a college campus magically turned you into the exact person you’re meant to be in this life, but unfortunately it isn’t. You might come here knowing exactly what you want to major in and where you want to work after you graduate and half of you will stick to those decisions. The majority of us though are stuck with ever-changing life goals and a little thing called unexpected events changing the directions we have. This is normal and totally OK; college is the perfect place to start figuring things out and eventually you’ll get to the place you want to be. The truth is you never stop learning whether you have a diploma or not.
*Photo credit: hercampus.com, richmond.com, socialnorms.org, oldgoldandblack.com, housing.vcu.edu, tumblr.com and tarleton.edu