Ah, welcome to the first semester of freshman year! What a time to be alive. Now you are truly an adult. I bet you’re hyped for all the freedom, constant junk food, and friends friends friends galore! As much as I believe that college is filled with all those amazing things and more, first semester freshman year is not a true representation of what college is like as a whole (just want to reiterate this is coming from a second-semester freshman).
The first couple months of college are a blur: you start off being besties with your roommate (and if you’re lucky like me you will have a fantastic relationship with your roomie by the end of orientation), and you’ll become friends with people who live near you just because you haven’t met anyone else. And you’ll have an amazing time. You will love how you are responsible for yourself and will have to hold yourself responsible for all aspects of your life.
You will probably read all possible readings for each class until the day you are too overwhelmed and decide to skim it instead, only to realize you can still succeed if you skim once in a while! And you will join all sorts of clubs and teams, and it is okay if you do not love them all. Just join as many as you can so instead of being a part of too few clubs, you can be a part of too many and drop the ones you hate. Some days will be long and you will fail one or two of your academic endeavors, but hopefully not more than that. Some days you will miss your house and your bed and your dog and your sister, but you will also realize that you are a full on adult now who can definitely live on their own. Soon, your new friends, your new bed, and your new environment will become home for you.
When that moment happens, it might not be as obvious as you might think. It probably will not hit you like a bus or strike you like lightning. It will be a slow, warm feeling that will overtake you, and you won’t realize it before it is too late. The warm feeling you get when you are surrounded by people you love at home. And then all of a sudden you are ALL in. And then there you are. You are just like me; you love college and everything that comes with it. You love the late Monday night McDonald runs, the Tuesday night movie nights, and the weekends filled with parties and friends and brunch. All of a sudden, your bed at home takes a little while to get used to and your parents breathing down your neck is the constant reminder that you were meant to be in college and be an adult! So enjoy! Love it as much as me!
Love,
Sam