“College is the best time of your life”
“College is nothing like high school”
“You need to take college seriously”
These are the things I heard over and over again as my senior year of high school and summer of 2017 came to close. College was going to be the time of your life where you find yourself, figure out who you really are, and a time of immense amounts of fun and stress. As my first semester of my freshman year is reaching its end, I have realized that these past few months have taught me a lot about life, school, friends, and everything else in between.
#1: Classes are not a joke.
I learned this the hard way. My first semester of college, I was so caught up in meeting new people, doing new things, and going out, that school took a back seat to everything. I would put off homework and studying to hang out with people so that I would be missing out. My grades started slipping, and I realized that if I was going to have my parents pay $25k a year for college and wanted to get into dental school, that I would need to start focusing on my academics. Living on campus was a completely different experience from going to high school because school and fun is wrapped up all in one place. But I definitely learned the hard way that school should be a priority now more than ever.
#2: Going out is fun, but gets very tiring very quickly.
I LOVE going out with the girls and dressing up to look cute, but I became so exhausted super quick. Not having any Friday classes was a blessing, since I could go out every Thirsty Thursday, but the weekend cycle grew old. Go out Thursday, chill on Friday, go out Friday night, tailgate Saturday, go out Saturday night, and grind on work all day Sunday. That was my weekly routine: nap and rally. I’m not gonna lie, it was tons of fun, but the weekend would just end in immense amounts of stress and exhaustion. Staying in every once in a while is super refreshing, and allowing my body the time to recuperate made me feel so much better. Sometimes watching Netflix with friends while you pig out on pizza can be just as fun as going out.
#3: High school isn’t relevant anymore.
College is NOT high school, so you can forget anything about the past. Personally, since I’m from NOVA and JMU is full of NOVA kids, it was pretty hard to forget high school, since I knew and knew of a lot of kids from back home. But high school has no place in college. College is a time for new experiences and new people. You can forget about high school and the past and simply start over. I didn’t really think starting over was possibly, but college is full of thousands of new people and not everyone knows everyone so for once, your business is actually your business.
#4: Get involved.
JMU is full of so many clubs and organizations that host a multiplicity of events. In high school, maybe it wasn’t your thing to go to club meetings or be involved, but here it’s so different. People actually go to club meetings and get involved. It’s a great way to meet potential lifelong friends and figure out who you are. I wish I got more involved my first semester and met more people outside my hall and friend group. Every one of my friends who are in sports, clubs, or organizations are having the time of their lives and are surrounded by people who are just like them! So, get involved, you won’t regret it.
#5: Boys ain’t s**t.
Coming to college, every freshman wants to know each other. There’s threads of Instagram usernames on Facebook and GroupMe chats with hundreds of people trying to get to know each other. You might be thinking to yourself “Oh s**t, there’s so many hot guys here” and yes, there are many very good-looking men on campus. But no matter how hot he is, he’s probably another f**kboy, so unless he’s investing his time and energy into getting to know you he’s only there for other reasons. The right guy comes at the right time, but the guys right now are nothing but eye candy and friends. Always remember that you’re a stunna honey and if a guy ever plays you, he didn’t deserve you in the first place.