To say the least, freshman year hit me like a brick.
I prepared for it all summer. From the time I graduated from high school, my free time was spent browsing Pinterest boards for dorm decor, driving into the city for the occasional Target run, and counting down the days until orientation. I knew that the transition would be hard—I resist change on instinct, and this was going to be the biggest change of my life—but my worries about the move were dulled by my excitement to become a Zag. By the time August 25 rolled around, I had a journal full of things I wanted to experience and a mind full of expectations—some of them realistic, most of them not.
I’ve been a student at Gonzaga for about a month now, and while I have had so much fun and grown so much in the past four weeks, looking back on what I had thought college would be like makes me laugh. There are things that I wish I would have known coming in that I know now, because if I had, it would have made my life a lot easier, especially in those first few days. Thus, dear readers, I have compiled a list of things I found out during my first month of freshman year in the hopes that they might help you with your own transition.
1) You are going to miss your family. And you are going to cry. A lot.
I called my mom three times on the day that she left Gonzaga, and I cried so much that I think my roommate thought I was emotionally unstable.
2. Shaving your legs in the communal showers is INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT.
If you bend over, your butt hits the shower wall. If you lift your leg, you feel like you are going to fall and break your neck. And the spray is going to wash the lather off your legs anyway, so you might as well just quit while you’re ahead.
3. It takes time to make friends.
I thought that I was going to waltz into my dorm and run right into my college best friend. Needless to say, this did not happen. I have wonderful friends now, but it took me about a week of searching to find them.
4. Care packages are going to feel like Christmas.
I had no idea how excited I would be opening up my first care package from my family. Even though it mostly just consisted of socks and underwear I’d forgotten at home, the pack of gum they slipped in there made my day.
5. Suddenly, the prospect of spending $5 is going to seem like a huge investment.
You start thinking of money in terms of how many snacks it can buy you. I could buy this 20$ sweater, OR I could get 40 bags of Top Ramen instead!
6. There is a lot more studying in college than there was in the movies.
When you’re not in class, you’re studying. Gone are the days of homework packets and 30 minute assignments. I mean, they still exist, but you have a few hours of studying on top of that.
7. The gym is scary.
In an attempt to jumpstart my healthy lifestyle, I waltzed into the RFC at peak hours. Little did I know, there would be a lot of very strong people there watching me while I huffed and puffed my way through a very slow mile around the track. I was self conscious at first, but a month in, I now realize that nobody really cares. We’re all just trying to work off all of those Cog cookies, after all.
8. Melding schedules with your roommate is difficult, but you’ll fall into step with each other eventually.
“So, uh, should we go to sleep now?”
9. There are so many fun clubs on campus, but joining them all is a bad idea.
I walked out of the club fair having given 15 clubs my information. Why couldn’t I join the LRL, the Art Club, the Harry Potter Club, the Gonzaga Volunteer Corps, and a couple of political organizations? One word: time. I have since narrowed it down to three clubs, and even that can be difficult to manage.
10. The first month is hard. But you will survive, and you will be better for it.
Everybody is in the same boat. We’re all lonely and stressed sometimes, but we’re still here. We’ll be okay.