I am about four weeks into college and I have come to the conclusion that its kind of mediocre. Let me set the scene: I am sitting alone in my dorm room at 10 pm scrolling through my Instagram feed trying not to feel bad about myself. I have seen so many pictures of girls from my high school looking so good on a Tuesday night. They have the full-on flat ironed hair, gorgeous smoky eye and an amazing party outfit. Me being me, I am like okay like go you (!!) however the 90-year-old woman in me is saying go to bed you have class tomorrow? I don’t know I have a lot of feelings. Every girl I know is posting adorable pics of their dorm room with perfect fairy lights, surrounded by their roomie who doubles as their best friend and a group of girls that is already solidified. While I do pride myself on having some freaking adorable fairy lights, I am not having the same experience as most people portray online. Being a freshman can be kinda terrible and here’s why.
- You do most things alone or with people you sort of know.
- The dreaded moment when you accidentally make eye contact with a stranger and end up pretending that your phone needs urgent attending to.
- When your RA says, “see you later” at 7 am. but your quickest response was a strained “thank you”. (This actually happens to me about three times a week)
- The anxiety felt in a group of people about what their arms are doing. Then, if you are doing the same thing you panic and have alien hands for a minute.
- The absolute roller coaster of emotions for the first three to four weeks. I will have a great cup of coffee and be like “this is the best day ever!”. Then two minutes later I’ll see a picture of my dog and wanna go sob in my room, fun right?
- Those super awesome neighbors upstairs that blast music on Wednesdays until 2 am.
- All the uncomfortable chats you have with people that involve the dreaded “what’s your major” question.
- The laundry room… enough said.
So now I have a list of advice to all you freshman out there struggling with me.
- I don’t have any advice because I am trash at this as well.
See I know a lot.
Well, I hope this was helpful and keep on slaying my sisters! You are beautiful even if you are the most awkward at social interactions like me. On a more serious note, while all of this nonsense is true, it’s going to be okay. The best real advice I have received is hang in there. During this first semester, time really will heal all wounds. The first couple weeks are hard to get out there and join a club or something. Try something new even if it’s like a weird vegetable or in my case going out on a Tuesday. Also don’t feel bad about taking a few hours to yourself every once in a while. The constant pressure to always be around people is real. Even if you take that time to call your friends back home, it will make all the difference in the world. There is nothing wrong with being a little homesick, but you just have to keep muddling on through. Also to all those girls on Instagram looking amazing on a Tuesday, keep doing you! Everyone is different and that is totally fine.