What did you expect college to be like? During senior year of high school and the summer before college, I probably asked around 20+ students what college would be like: “Do you like your classes? Is the food good? Is college hard? How early do we start applying for internships?” I continued to ask question after question and, to my surprise, some of the answers turned out to be very similar. A pattern appeared before me of things that “almost all” of college freshman do. After asking all of these urgent questions, I knew a lot of what to expect as an incoming freshman:
People will try to look exceptionally nice the first day of classes.
The day before classes began, I spent almost an hour picking out an outfit because I had no clue what to expect. I did not know if I should wear a casual dress, or a blazer and dress pants. After picking out a modest, weather appropriate dress, I went on my way to see the plethora of formal outfits on the first day (I may have applied a bit of extra make-up as well…).
You may not master your way around campus the first couple of days:
Unless you have family or friends who attend or have attended your campus, the new environment may be a bit hard to navigate during the first week or two of classes. Though I knew my way around the school fairly quick without having to use my schedule because of attending a smaller campus, I am still praying for the people who go to larger colleges.
Adjusting to college may take a while:
I am sure most of us have heard this one… that it takes months to adjust to college. I am honestly still adjusting to college to this day because of all of the schedule changes and involvement in new activities on and off-campus. It definitely is a change, but it is a great experience!
That is it “too early” to start looking for jobs and internships:
I was told by not only upperclassmen but even grownups, that freshman do not know enough about their majors to look for internships, but I always thought “the earlier, the better!” Though it may be pretty early, attending the career fair for experience made me think about changing my major! Maybe some early experiences like mine may lead into a life-changing decision.
Beware of the Freshman fifteen:
The freshman fifteen is REAL. I remember saying, and I quote, “I will never let myself gain ANY weight in college.” Living up to that statement is definitely harder than it looks, no matter how active I may be. But with motivation from friends, I know that it is possible to help stop my daily craving for our caf’s cake.
That we should not be as stressed as upperclassmen:
Though I can say that I do have A LOT of homework and priorities, I should be living more in the moment and realize that this is just the beginning. I am adjusting to a lifestyle almost completely on my own, and what better time than now to have fun making new friends, travel, and get involved in different clubs and organizations? Needless to say, I am not that excited to be more stressed than i am now if this is a real freshmen expectation.
All in all, though it took me a while to adjust, I am really warming up to my freshman year of college. I am hoping that every year gets better and better as time goes on, and I am thoroughly enjoying being off on my own. What are some freshmen expectations you’ve heard before?