Finally, we’re free, no more rules, I can do what I want, I will make new friends and countless other thoughts are what students feel as freshman year starts at college. Have you ever thought how much you change during your college career? Some have and some have not but every student will eventually go through this personal reflection. By the time you are a senior, your perspective drastically changes. After five long years, my college career is coming to an end and I have seen so much change around me and within myself.
Freshman Year
Freshman year starts and everything seems so surreal and you want to put your hands in everything. You want to eat healthy, meet everybody, be sociable, make straight A’s and you feel like the world is yours the take. You eventually will hit the “freshman wall” and feel homesick, but that will come to pass. You miss your friends, family, and the fact you knew what to expect while you were home in high school. As a freshman, you wake up early, putting on your well thought out and stylish outfit to hit the Union before class as you want to look good while you achieve perfect attendance in all your classes. Your new roommates are lovable hopefully, as those will be your first traveling buddies more than likely. Can we say party? The babies get to party with adults now. As a freshman, you get to go party with upperclassmen in places such as Tavern or what use to be Platinum once upon a time. Now you awake in your personal sanctuary where you have you underwear thrown everywhere, but you don’t care because your parents aren’t around to tell you to clean up. College is awesome and you never want to leave here.
Sophomore Year
Congrats congrats! You successfully made it through your first year of college, and not many people do that, but the fight is not finished! You may feel like you have a complete handle of everything on campus… WRONG! The dynamics of Georgia Southern change every year. The hangouts that you would see everyone at last year are now like a deserted island. The bars and clubs that were once your favorite hangouts like Rude Rudy’s or Primetime have now been closed down. The intro class that was supposed to prepare you for the secondary classes may not have prepared just as much as you need. You might decide to switch your majors and even move off campus. All in all, this is the year that really helps you settle into the college lifestyle. However, it’s not completely bad and full of changes. With your second year, you finally understand the ups and downs of campus life. Now you find all types of shortcuts and routes to the best parking lots that you were oblivious to last year and you also find out the best time to go grab a bite to eat while everyone is in their class.
Junior Year
Woooooo this is getting tough quickly! The first two years were fun and games, but now is the time to buckle down and handle business. At this point hopefully you have found a degree path that you are more than happy with. Clubs, associations, student organizations! This is the year to get involved. If you have been one of the slackers who waited til the last minute to join student organizations then this part is for you. Employers want to see that you have done more than just went to college. They want to see what impact you left on your campus and how you were able to balance multiple tasks. Whether you have an exec board position on a small organization of 10 people or have to the luxury of being on the exec board of SGA just make a difference. It will help you in the long run. You might even be able to build some great connections for the future.
Senior Year
It’s the first day of senior year and senioritis is amongst you as you miss the first day of class. You’re tired and you cannot go through another year of this. Every day is a new challenge because you have seen it all in college terms. Your well thought out ensemble is now just sweatpants and a hoodie and your ten minutes late for class of course and your dinner will consist of ice cream and a box of pizza. Your friends want to party and now you have to go party with babies and they really need crack down on the underage drinking [ha]. There aren’t usually roommate issues by the time you’re a senior because you know how to work the system. All the stuff you set your mind to as a freshman, you probably accomplished a few of them and that’s better than not doing anything. Graduation is approaching and your college life will be ending soon. Now you might begin to think that the real world isn’t awesome, and you never want to leave here.
We hope this breakdown help you get a grasp of what you have to look forward to in the coming years of your college experience. Remember take life by the horns and be AWESOME!