College life is an adjustment for most people, and as a Freshman at VSU, I’ve come to terms with a few things. Harry Potter, while not something I’ve picked up in college, sums up my perception of every college freshman’s (if not all college students’) life perfectly. (And yes, although I am a Supernatural fan as well, couldn’t Harry Potter also have gifs for everything?)
Let’s start from the beginning…
You leave with high hopes for the future, and if you’re not at least a little tearful, someone in your family is.
As you endure mundane classes (unless you’re really into the subject, but good luck finding those outside of your major courses) and you get the morose realization that you’re eating alone in the dining hall again, you can’t help but imagine a world where…
…someone remembered and thought fondly enough of you to actually send you something in the mail other than the latest ad for the local student-filled apartments. (And I bet every time you find an envelope with your name hand-written on the front you’re just as jubilant as Harry, here.)
Before long, you may notice your motivation start to slip and your grades dropping, and you start to realize… Maybe the situation is a bit more perilous than you thought.
So you’ll either hole up in your room the night before the exam and screech like a banshee when someone knocks on your door (“I can’t afford the distraction!”) or claim a study room as your newfound lair. But really, even though your notes are scattered here and there, you’ve got a tab on your laptop browser opened for Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, or even Netflix. Those notes aren’t doing you any good, nor is your “Cavern of Knowledge.”
You’ll take that exam the next day, week, month – and you’ll feel alright about it. You can turn it in with a feeling of accomplishment. Your night of cramming wasn’t for naught.
…until the results come in, that is. Oh, the professor focuses on the details of the material and counts off if one specific word is missing? You chose the wrong letter between the two multiple choice answers that were so close, they could have been mistaken for identical twins? That’s alright – it’s only 1/3 of your total grade for the course. No big deal. (I’m surprised these words aren’t smudged from the sarcasm dripping off my tongue right now.)
The weekend rolls around, and instead of studying like you should be doing, you decide to go out. Have a little fun. Let your hair loose and your freak fly (in moderation, of course).
The next day, your memory might be a little fuzzy, the sunlight might be a bit too bright to handle, and maybe the fries in the dining hall aren’t such a great choice for lunch today. Last night’s events might be a bit hazy… (and you probably looked a little on the rough side).
Sometimes the night’s events come back in snippets – sometimes your friends are kind enough to elaborate on what happened – sometimes it turns out you’re a little more susceptible to pick-up lines than you thought.
Mistakes happen. Sometimes hooking up with a stranger (or a friend of a friend) isn’t the best decision you’ve made. (Although, if that stranger looked like Tom Felton, I doubt it would be much of a mistake.)
But you know, it’s not the end of the world. These things happen. We trudge on and pull through the poor time management and over-indulgence of Starbucks coffee. Things change. We change. That’s part of the beauty of it all. The changes, especially those unexpected, keep you on your toes and experiencing life.