As someone who has worked full time for the past three years, the transition from a workaholic to full time college student was abrupt and different. On my first Sunday here at SHU, I woke up in a frenzy as I thought, in my morning haze, that I would be late for my 8AM shift.
To my own surprise, when I realized I was in my new dorm room instead, it was a major shell-shock. Granted, the occupation I’ve held all these years has not been the most glamorous: a 40-hour work week consisting of stacking ten plates on one arm and calling out my orders at the top of my lungs. There have been many 14-hour days that went by in the blink of an eye, and many that felt as if time was standing still – regardless, I still loved every crazy, exhausting minute of it.
That’s right, you guessed it, I’ve been a fulltime waitress all throughout high school. It has been one of the most informative times of my life, which made it excruciatingly hard to say good bye, cold turkey. This was the place where I found a family and freedom to be a real adult. Naturally, the first few days in my new college environment were hard. I won’t lie – over the summer I was constantly on the move, whether it was picking up another shift, preparing for the upcoming school year, or taking long drives through the winding roads of Connecticut.
So, imagine my surprise when I finally reached my goal: a four-year education at my top school, and I still found myself yearning to be back home, cruising down Route 302 with my best friends. I am not writing this to drown myself in a homesick puddle – far from it!
This is for the freshman out there, just like me, who feel alone and are craving the familiarity of their hometown. My hometown is a close hour away, and some days it seems like a lifetime – trust me when I say it passes. You realize that your loved ones will still be there when you come back, and by that time you’ll have hundreds of interesting stories about college life to tell them. I know it has only been a few weeks, but I feel it in my bones that I made the right choice, and I hope you feel the same!
After all, the college experience only comes once in a lifetime and you’re only young once, so live it up while you can. Keep your head up, they say college goes by in the blink of an eye and I fully intend on seeing where the journey takes me.