During the weeks leading up to the start of my freshman year, I felt like I knew everything about going off to college. I read all the blogs and talked to people who had already been through this, I was feeling pretty good. After being in college for over a month, I realize that I didn’t actually know the important stuff, the stuff that can make or break your first few weeks of college. I had a lot of expectations about college, and some of those were very, very wrong. So here are the five things I wish I had known before I started my freshman year.
1. You may not make friends immediately and that’s ok.
I expected making friends in college would be a lot easier than it really is. When you have thousands of people on your campus, it’s hard to find people that you really connect with. I met a whole lot of people my first few weeks of college, but I didn’t find many that I actually wanted to spend time with. After I started getting involved on campus was when the connections really started to happen. I found “my people,” the people who think similarly to me and like the same things I do.
2. College is a major emotional rollercoaster.
The only way I can think to describe my first month of college is: amazing and also the hardest month of my life. No one told me about all of the emotions that I would go through during college. One minute, I feel great and my day is going really well; the next I’m looking at an article about the highest paying jobs for college dropouts, true story. Most people I’ve talked to feel the same way about their first semester of college, so if you ever catch yourself thinking something like this, congrats, you’re normal! I get the sudden feeling that I can’t do this whole college thing about seven times a day, and that’s ok.
3. You and your roommate may not be best friends.
Going to college, I think most people have this idea that their roommate is going to become their best friend. If this actually happened to you, that’s great! If not, you’re not alone. While I love my roommate and we get along really well, we’re not best friends. We’re both on very different schedules so we don’t really have time to be best friends. This was a little hard in the beginning, but I’ve found that it’s actually really nice to just have a friend to talk to every night.
4. Developing a routine is essential.
The start of a new year is crazy busy, I have found that building a routine and sticking to it is one of the only things that keeps me sane during these hectic weeks. Whether it’s going to the library in between classes, going for a walk outside every day after class, or just watching Netflix before bed; even the smallest things can get you into your own groove and help you become more productive.
5. Everything is going to be ok.
I’ve heard this phrase a million times but I have never needed to actually listen to it more than I do now that I’m in college. Yes, it’s cliche, but it’s also very true. When college gets overwhelming and stressful, I just have to keep reminding myself that everything really is going to be ok. One test won’t ruin my GPA, and I will be able to get all of my work done in time. The things I’m stressing over right now won’t matter in a month or even a week. It’s all good!