Here is a list of things I wish I had believed when people told me before going into my freshman year of college. Now that I will be a sophomore I feel that the things I didn’t listen to really would have helped me have a better first semester if not a whole better year.
It is okay to go home often
I know of a lot of people say you have to stay each and every weekend at school in order to make friends but this is not true. There aren’t always things to do every weekend so why sit in your dorm when you could be sleeping in your own bed? My philosophy on it is if there is something you’re interested in doing or have plans with your friends, definitely stay on campus. For me, I really have only been on campus for 3 full weekends, and I am okay with that. If there is nothing to do I would much rather be at home with my car and my own bed than in my dorm bored for 48 hours, but I have had amazing experiences staying on campus on a Saturday that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
It is okay to go to a school close to home
Out of all of my friends from high school I stayed closest to home… Aka 15 minutes away. The rest of my friends went at the very least an hour away and I felt left out. Before coming to school I thought I was going to miss out on so much because I am going somewhere so close to home. I wasn’t adventurous and went to a Connecticut school or even Pennsylvania like some people from my school. It always felt like college was the time to be far away from home but honestly I love being close to home. If I’m having a bad day I know I can get home for a few hours or be there on the weekends. I also feel like I’m far enough away that I don’t feel like I’m living in the town over from my home. I also don’t have my car on campus so being close to home helps my anxiety knowing I can have my parents or sister come pick me up.
Your friends may not last longer than a semester
You may have friends that you met at orientation or in a class. Since you live in the same area you have the opportunity to spend lots of time together. Finding a balance is best as I have learned people grow apart way faster in college than in high school. There are so many people to meet on every college campus that its good to have a larger group of people you may not be super close with but also having those few friends that you can be completely open and honest with. I didn’t truly meet my best friends until my second semester this year, and I am forever grateful I did. These people have gotten me to where I am today and I thank them so much for that.
You might have roommate troubles… even when you picked one
I personally came in with one of my closest friends from high school to be my roommate. I will be honest and say it did not work out how we thought. Originally, we wanted a double but were put into a triple with a girl we had never met. Living with the random girl was really tough but that wasn’t even the worst part. I ended up moving out of that room and my friend left. We found that we didn’t enjoy living together as much as we thought we would. It is kind of sad as we don’t speak much anymore, but I will say don’t room with your best friend freshmen year or until you know how to live with other people in a shared space and establish separate friends and or activities.
You may not feel like you belong at your school for a while
I didn’t feel connected to Endicott until this past semester. During the middle of the fall semester I kept contemplating transferring as this was when my friend left and I wasn’t super involved. Spring semester I knew had to be different because I couldn’t be sitting in my room alone all day after classes. I joined clubs, I have a job, and put myself out there to meet new people. One thing people tell you when you are a freshmen is to join at least one club and I stand by that as I now have met some of my closest friends by doing this.
All in all, freshman year is a great time to figure out who you are and who you want to be. I can truly say I wouldn’t be where I am today without both the negative and positive experiences I had this year. I always felt judged going home most weekends by no one but myself. That is a hurdle you have to get through in your first year, getting over your internal judgement and preconceived notions of what college is supposed to be, but it can be whatever you want it to be.
See you next year!
Lexi <3