Going into your freshman year comes with an abundance of expectations. People talk about the social life, clubs, new friends, parties and everything in between. It is easy to assume it is going to be the best year of your life. For some people it is, but I am here to tell you that it is okay if it is not. This is a hot take, but sophomore year of college is drastically better than freshman year.
Comfortability
EVERYTHING is new freshman year. You are learning the customs of dorm living, how to cope without your family, taking college-level classes, meeting a ton of strangers every single day, eating new food and learning how to live in an unfamiliar city. It feels like starting at square one and relearning how to live your life after having the same routine for the past 18 years. This aspect in itself is enough to make a first-year student feel like a needle in a haystack.
However, entering sophomore year, you are met with the beauty of familiarity. You have made friends in your major, you know people in your classes, you know the best places to eat on campus and where your classes are. You no longer have that overwhelming feeling of dread when it comes trying something new because there is familiarity all around you.
Familiarity, even if it is just knowing your way around campus, allows you to step out of your comfort zone and try new things because you already have some comfort in your presence. It gives you the confidence to join that club you were unsure of during your first year, reach out to that friend you were too nervous to last year, and actually find your spot and people in the place you will spend all of your time throughout your collegiate career.
Fear of Change
Being a first-year student means lots of change, which is one of the biggest fears burdening people. This can cause fresh college students to cling onto the first thing that feels comfortable, preventing them from reaching their full potential.
While something may feel comfortable, it may also feel like it is not the right fit for you. Some people would immediately quit once they felt like something was not clicking for them; first-year students may not have that luxury. The craving for comfort and fear of change can cloud your vision and trick you into thinking it is best to stay rather than step out of your comfort zone and find what aligns with you.
The loveliness of sophomore year is that the clouds are gone and your vision is clearer than ever. Instead of worrying about change, you have had a year to adjust and you are able to replace that worry with a sense of curiosity and broaden your horizons.
Personal Reflection
My freshman year was definitely not the best year of my life. I dreaded the change and wanted nothing more than to be back home.
Thankfully, I have the luxury of only living an hour away from Cal Poly so I get to see my family every weekend if I need to. While you would think coming back to campus after being at home would get easier after doing it a million times, that was not the case. Somehow, as my first year progressed, coming back to campus on Sunday after having the whole weekend to spend with my family got tougher each time.
Half of this challenge was that I came to college with the same abundance of expectations I mentioned. I thought it was going to be a magical set of adventures, but to my surprise it was my least favorite year of schooling to date.
The other half was that I also clung to comfortability and familiarity because I was scared of change. Instead of leaving my dorm, exploring the mountains around me, going on new hikes, meeting new people, eating at new restaurants or even joining new clubs, I chose to stay in my little shoebox room with what I became comfortable with. I thought comfortability meant it had to be right. I came to find out that I was incredibly wrong.
After my first year, I wondered what was wrong with my college experience. Why was I not feeling the same way as so many people around me? Why was I not missing my dorm that I slept in every night for the past nine months? Why was I not missing the town that was supposed to be my second home? Why was I not loving college?
I wish I could tell my freshman-year self that it gets better. I am happy to say that I adore college and Cal Poly now more than I ever thought I could.
What changed, you may ask? I turned the little voice in my brain off that was begging for comfortability, stepped out of my comfort zone and found a new world; a world full of opportunities, friendships, jobs and everything else that college is about.
I had the confidence to find this new world thanks to my unfavored freshman year. I knew I did not want to waste my college years sticking with things that were not for me. So, with the little piece of familiarity I had at the start of this school year, which was Cal Poly itself, I gathered up all of my courage and decided that sophomore year was going to be better than freshman year. So far, I have been right.