When embarking into the great unknown — or college — it’s obvious that it will be different from high school and incomparable to anything else we have experienced up to this point in our lives. Just as one would prepare for a journey, we prepare for college. We buy all the cute dorm necessities (yes, we need that fifth succulent and extra throw pillow); we pick our roommate (or go in blind); we register for new, interesting courses and our schedule is personalized to us (no more waking up at 6 a.m. hopefully).
The issue here is that The Great Unknown has been so built up. Over the last four years, it’s been in the back of everyone’s minds or at the tip of their tongues. Our future, so undecided and so full of potential, is supposed to be the moment when we really shine, now that we are no longer in the confines of our hometowns or high schools. Even though the future is definitely bright, there are always dark spots.
My first semester of college was one of the most mentally and emotionally trying periods of my life. I had always struggled with anxiety, but all this change was a tipping point. While I was struggling, it felt like it would never end, that it would just go on forever (or at least the next four years.)
I was overwhelmed with the size of the campus. With a school this massive, how is one ever supposed to find their niche and people they fit in with? I was unnerved sleeping in a bed that wasn’t my own from home and sharing a space with strangers — girls that I had only spoke to through text. How would we get along, if at all? I was worried about classes, as always, and feeling as if everyone else knew what they were doing in life. So suddenly, with all this built up anxiety and loneliness, despite waiting years for college, I felt unprepared in every aspect of the word.
Those were my fears. To be honest, I’m not quite sure when I got out of that mindset. But that’s the amazing part: without even realizing it, there was a switch. And suddenly, the dark I was shrouded in was full of light.
I started going to football games — with random girls I had met in class, no less. I even camped overnight for ESPN’s College Gameday with girls who are now my closest friends, but at the time, I only knew them for a total of two months. We excitedly awaited daybreak while playing card games in the dead of night, huddled together under blankets. I went to Disney Trivia with people I had never really spoken to a few months prior (now we’ve moved in together.) And those strangers I was living with became my Steak ‘n Shake buddies on late nights when there was nothing else to do. Now, I can’t even imagine life without knowing a single one of them — these are the people I studied with, laughed with, cried with and grew with.
A year ago, I couldn’t see a future for myself at UCF. But the person I’ve grown into, I can’t imagine a future without it. I’m going to give some advice but I swear, this is not a “Dear Abby” column: embrace it. Embrace this transitionary period for exactly what it is: a moment of discomfort. Embrace the campus and everything it has to offer: go to events, go to the Student Union when clubs are tabling — they give out free stuff anyway — and go to the games. Embrace the changes and know it will all be for the better. Embrace everything that could happen and everything that will happen.