Many of us entered college with a set of expectations for what college life will be like. However, when we truly experience the start of freshman year, we realize that not all of our expectations are true. For example, college may not be as exciting or as easy as we thought it was going to be. So, here are some expectations that may not have become reality:
- Partying Every Day
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College life means partying! As a college student, you can party every day without your parents stopping you. Yet, the reality is that you may just end up doing homework or studying instead of attending that party that your friend wanted you to go to. Oftentimes, you may just be too lazy to go out and end up staying in the dorm to catch up on lost sleep.
- Becoming Besties With Your Roommates
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You are going to share a dorm with one or two other people for an entire year. The expectation is that you will talk to them every day and that they will do everything with you! However, the reality is that you may eat at the dining halls with them for the first few weeks, but after making friends with other people, you might just ignore your roommates for the rest of the year. Or, even worse, you might dislike them for newfound annoyances.
- Getting A’s Without Studying
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In high school, it was possible to get good grades without studying or by just cramming the day before the test. So, college freshmen might expect that this should apply to college as well. Yet, despite your good grades in high school with little to no studying, college is different. Additionally, having fewer tests in college means that there are not as many grades to buffer your GPA if you do poorly on the final exam. Your year-long class in high school will be crammed into a quarter in college, and not studying may result in a bad grade.
- Staying In Touch With High School Friends
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Although your high school friends may be going to different colleges, you believe that everyone will remain in contact with each other. However, in reality, you may break off contact with some of your closest friends or you may rarely see them throughout college. This may be disheartening, but having different lives causes the lack of communication. In college, it will be difficult to match with your friends’ schedules since not everyone is attending the same school, and people might be spread out through different time zones.
- Enjoying Freedom From Parents
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Of course, everyone loves the idea of moving away from parents and escaping all the nagging and hovering. For the first few weeks, you will enjoy your independence and freedom. Yes, the experience away from your parents may feel amazing, but at some point, you may just miss spending time with your parents. You may miss their cooking, some of their nagging, their footsteps and just their overall presence. You may even be excited to text them every day and call them often just to hear their voices. You might even look forward to visiting home!
These are just some of the expectations that freshmen have going into college, but there are plenty more. Whether our expectations become true or not depends on how well we manage our time and how well we adapt to these new experiences, but one reality is that college is certainly different from anything else we’ve experienced!