1. Everyone Wants Friends.
Trust me on this one. There are very few people that come to college and already have their friend group, and even those who do probably won’t stay with that group. Everyone feels awkward. Even outgoing people feel awkward. This entire situation is: AWKWARD. My biggest advice is to just put yourself out there, even though that is a lot easier said than done. Sit next to someone in class and just introduce yourself. Even if you don’t become forever friends, it’s always nice to have a familiar face in the crowd. Eventually, you will find people who you can relate to and then BAM: you have friends.
2. No One Cares How You Look.
I cannot stress this one enough. In high school, I was definitely the girl that always did her hair and makeup for school and looked put together. I felt insecure with the way that I looked, especially without makeup, and I didn’t want anyone else to see the aspects of me that I was most insecure about. Coming to college, I assumed the urge I felt to look good would amplify. WRONG. In college you see so many people that you will never see again. Not to mention, they have so much going on in their own life that they could care less how one out of hundreds of people they saw that day looked. Now I hardly ever wear makeup, and when I do it is not because I’m feeling insecure, but rather because I just want to. At the end of the day, if people care that much about how you look, you should venture out and find new people to be around, because out of the thousands of people at college, I can guarantee that you will be able to find true friends that are just interested in who you are and not for how you look.
3. R.I.P. If You Don’t Have Air Conditioning.
I wish I could tell you that it won’t completely suck if you don’t have air conditioning, but I’m not willing to completely tarnish my credibility just yet. I am one of those unlucky students who was given a non-air conditioned dorm. Not to mention, Ohio’s weather was really rude this year and decided to be eighty degrees in October. During the first month I had heat rashes and could hardly sleep, but I was able to find some tips and tricks to survive the cards I was dealt, so here they are:
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Put your sheet in a plastic bag and set them in the freezer throughout the day. Then, when you’re going to bed take your sheet out. (Disclaimer: it will only stay cold for around fifteen minutes, but it’s so worth it.)
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Wet a couple hand towels and put them in a plastic bag as well. Set them in the refrigerator to keep them cool, then at night put them behind your neck and anywhere else to stay cool to make it through the night. It’s all about survival!
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Keep your lights off as much as possible and have your blinds down when you don’t need any light. This will bring the temperature down some and any bit helps!
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Box fans are your new best friend. All fans are your friends, but a box fan will become your closest confidant. My roommate and I only had one oscillating fan for the first few weeks and then everyone was telling us to buy a box fan and put it in our window. Our room cooled down so much after we bought one–complete game changer.
4. Your Legs Will Chafe Like No Other the First Few Weeks.
Unless you have a killer thigh gap (and if so, I’m highly jealous) your legs will without a doubt chafe. The first couple weeks it is super hot outside so you’ll have to wear shorts and you will be walking more than you probably ever have. With the heat and the long walks, chafing is an inevitable nightmare. A little tip my friend taught me: use deodorant on your inner thighs and it will soothe your skin while helping your legs glide less painfully together. You’ll thank me later.
5. If You Trip, No One Cares.
Whenever someone would trip up the stairs in high school it was always a big thing. People would laugh and then tell all their friends until eventually everyone at school knew about it. For a clutz like me, tripping is natural, so tripping at school was always a big fear of mine. At college, however, no one cares. They’re just trying to get through the day just like you. The first time I tripped up the stairs going to one of my classes, I looked around to see if anyone was laughing, but nope. No one even batted an eye. College is a very judgemental-free area, which is such a relieving factor.
6. The First Time You Go Home Might Suck, But That’s Okay.
I wish I was kidding, but the first time I went home I cried… a lot. You can become so homesick while away and then when you finally come back you find yourself feeling somewhat lost. Your dorm doesn’t feel like home, but now your home doesn’t really feel like home either. Your room is eerily emptier, since you took most of your stuff with you to college. You also begin to notice little changes in your home or hometown that just make you feel out of place. This is a normal feeling so don’t be too hard on yourself. The whole process will make you grow so much as an individual and make you much stronger (as cheesy as that sounds).
7. You Will Genuinely Find Some Of the Most Amazing Friends.
Remember when I told you in my first lesson learned that making friends can be awkward? Well, we’re about to come full circle, because once you do make these friends you’ll begin to wonder how you ever lived without them before. Even if you don’t find these friends for a while, trust me they will come. I have made real friends who want to know the real me and aren’t in it for superficial conversations. We can be honest with each other and be free of judgment, which is something so rare to find nowadays. We also know that we can push each other in different aspects to help one another succeed, rather than trying to tear one another down.
You now have an inside scoop on the real college experience. I wish someone would have told me these seven little secrets, but now you can at least be more a little bit more prepared than I was for this crazy experience!