I am over half way through my first semester at Wake Forest, and let me tell you nothing about this experience has been simple. Not that Wake isn’t a wonderful place, but I have found that everyone forgets to mention how difficult the transition to college is at the beginning. All you ever hear is that “you are about to have the best four years of you life”. Let me tell you about some of the hardest challenges I have faced since coming to school.
Coming into college I was not expecting to have a difficult time transitioning. In high school I worked hard and made good grades all the time, I did not think much would change once I got to college. I mean how much harder could it really be? I am here to tell you it is a lot more difficult, and when you have two exams and paper due on the same day, it’s exponentially more complex.
Then no one warns you that you don’t find your best friend the second that you step onto campus. So on top of having a difficult time transitioning into the more difficult school work, you are trying to make friends and be as social as possible in order to build relationships. You feel a constant pressure to say yes to anything, which in turn makes getting all the school work done even more tough.
This part was kind of expected, but both of these things then being combined with a completely new environment where you are not at home and you don’t have your mom to justify every decision you make, is the cherry on top of the ice cream sunday of impossible things. I don’t know about everyone else, but I am really close with my mom, and not having her around all the time to talk about everything that is going on has probably been the hardest part of all.
I don’t want to be completely discouraging here, there are a ton of things about Wake Forest that I love! I have met some of the greatest people and love spending time with them! Campus is absolutely beautiful, especially right now as the leaves are changing colors! And my professors are all amazing and very approachable and willing to talk about any issues I have.
So even though the transition is tough, I wouldn’t change a thing about where I am. My only wish is that someone would warn you ahead of time about how hard the first semester really is. I came into school with so many expectations and none rang true for me, I want everyone to realize the first semester is HARD on so many levels.