Okay, so, everyone says that being an upperclassman in college is different from being an underclassman (freshmen, sophomore) and as juvenile as that may sound, they are absolutely correct. There were aspects of being a freshman and sophomore which I hated and things I did like and everyone used to tell me, “just wait it changes.” I was always like, “eh, it will probably stay the same.” Well, it changes. There are some things that are better and others that are worse.
I think the best thing about being an upperclassman are the friendships. When your reach junior and senior year, you have already gone through the freshmen round of friends that are the fake friends or the ones that you’re friends with just because of circumstances (both being freshmen and not having anything going on besides that). Then you have the people you’re friends with sophomore year. These are the friends that you go out with all the time, they are also the ones that start drama. By this time in your college career, circles are starting to intertwine and people are starting to find things out about others and the poop hits the fan. Or, this is the time when people are starting to get tired of being around each other drama starts just because of pure jealousy or constant togetherness. Now, junior year and senior year, this changes. You’ve been through the tumultuous years and are settled in who you are. This type of confidence attracts the types of people you want in your life. You have the friends that have been through thick and thin with you and the vibe is positive. These are the types of people that you will be calling in ten years to be in each others weddings or just the ones you always keep in contact with.
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One thing that is positive and/or negative, depending where you fall on the scale is turning 21. If you are in the group of people turning 21 it is awesome! Even if you aren’t that big into drinking or partying, it still gives you more options in a college town. Instead of having the choice of going to a frat party or a house party, you have the choice of frat parties, house parties, many different bars, or even just hanging out in your house with your own alcohol. However, if you are one of the unfortunate souls that is not turning 21, or one of the ones to turn 21 last then that stinks. Watching all your friends turn 21 while you’re being left behind is a pretty sad feeling. One of the only things that padded my sad ego was the fact that I knew I was spending less money than everyone else at the bars.
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Not only will your attitude towards others change as you progress through your college career, but so will others attitudes towards you. In your clubs, athletics and other activities, you will start to notice a change in how others interact with you. Their respect for you will go up and your opinion will be valued more. This sense of “they know what they are doing” will evolve.
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Besides socially, you will also notice a change academically. Classes will get harder. You’ll start to reach upper level classes that require more work, more reading, more writing, and more studying. This will become apparent to you when you order your textbooks for the semester and instead of spending $100 for textbooks, you’re shelling out $300. You’ll also start applying to internships, jobs, and searching for different opportunities related to your major which is very fun and also very scary because life begins to feel more real. If you really enjoy your major though, this will not seem that bad. This could actually be a very good thing for you. You might even find yourself enjoying class.
All these pros and cons aside, college is awesome, enjoy it. Whatever stage of life you’re in, look for the positives and take advantage of them, life is short and college is shorter.
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