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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UIC chapter.
Whether you’re an incoming freshmen who needs to know what to expect for your first year or an upperclassmen looking to reminiesce on everything you once had to deal with, here’s a continuation of the things you learned freshmen year! If you missed part one, you can find it right here. 
  1. Let the syllabus guide your decision on whether to ditch or not

Know what days to ditch. A review session with answers to the study guide isn’t a smart day to pretend to be sick, but a PowerPoint of the chapter that’s found online doesn’t require 50 minutes in a lecture hall.

2. Don’t let home hold you back

No one likes a party pooper that has to go home every weekend in sacrifice of missing all the weekend fun. It’s totally fine to get homesick and want to go back for a home cooked meal and just chill, but college is only a few years in your life. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

3. Binging on Netflix is the norm

Suggesting new shows, watching your laptop dwindle in battery percentage, and not talking to your roommate for hours is just what happens when you’re in the Netflix zone. As a matter of fact, it’s actually encouraged in college.

4. Warning! Fashion sense may change

If the word “comfortable” didn’t describe your school attire previously, it will once you realize there’s little to no need to put in effort on most weekdays. College is also an eye-opening environment with different styles and personalities. Fashion inspiration will be found on campus for sure.

5. Get used to walking all day everyday

Walking 5 miles every school day is ordinary. DO NOT wear new shoes to school! Break them in at home: wearing new ones is a huge mistake that ends with Band-Aids and the penguin walk by the end of your last class.  

6. You’ll eat food you never thought you’d eat at the Caf

You will become less picky the longer you eat the school’s food. The same food becomes dull and you start eating other options that you’ve never seen on your plate before.

7. Taking advantage of your freedom will lead to some mistakes.

Nothing much can be said except take it and move on. Don’t make the same stupid mistake; there’s no need for a repeat. Just like Hannah Montana taught us, “Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has those days.”

8. “Watching another episode on Netflix over studying for your Chem test” decisions will be made

Decisions will be made in college. Some of them will be debatable looking back, but hey, it happens. Netflix may seem like your main priority over studying.

9. Don’t be too fast to judge people

When you walk into a completely new environment with tons of new people, you’ll have first impressions left and right. But once you get to actually talk to some of your fellow classmates, you may find out your assumption was completely wrong. Resting bitch face/douche face is a thing, but doesn’t mean that they are one.

10. You can’t live with them, can’t live without them…NAPS

There’s nothing like coming back from class and just completely passing out while watching Family Feud. It’s kinda scary, but people schedule naps in college. We’re just trying to get our life together. The trickiest naps are when you try taking one between classes. Then you hate yourself when it’s 3am and you’re wondering what happened.

11. Doesn’t matter how long a professor gives you to write an essay. You will write it two hours before it’s due.

“Procrastination at it’s finest” is the college nation’s motto. We push it off and then we regret it. It’s a cycle of hating ourselves, and we can only blame ourselves for it, too.

12. Seeing an animal turns you into a high-pitched little kid  

It’s like seeing a dinosaur in today’s world. It seems like seeing someone walk their dog attracts all animal lovers within a 2-mile radius. They remind us of our pets from back home and it hurts.

13. Living in the same building with your friends is like the best long-term sleepover ever

No bed time and no worries. It’s surreal to think that we don’t have one, but it’s literally the best.

14. Driving was a freedom taken for granted and it becomes the best thing when you go back home

Most of us didn’t have cars on campus. Anytime you get reconnected to your car, it’s a luxury not having to walk or take public transportation to get milk. Plus the aux cord becomes a part of your life equation again.

15. You’ll end up being homesick and randomly calling your parents/siblings

It happens when you’re bored, happens when you’re homesick. You actually say “I miss you” and mean it.

16. Laundry pods should be given a national holiday

The vast majority of us were – let’s face it – laundry virgins before coming to college. We took our neatly folded whites and colors done by our mothers for granted. The scary adult activity of cleaning our clothes had some pressure removed because of magical laundry pods. There’s nothing to it: just drop a pod into the load and done. You can even be fancy and drop in a few of those Downy Unstoppables.

Irais is pursuing a marketing major at The University of Illinois at Chicago. Coming from the small country town of Harvard, Illinois, she knows there's a whole neighborhood left for her to explore. Checking off her bucket list activities is what she does in the afternoons and weekends when she’s not napping. She currently cherishes her vast music playlist, Netflix account, Pinterest boards, and her growing show collection of Chucks and wedges. Catch her trying to Penny board to class.
Clare is a sophomore at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is majoring in Marketing and planning on minoring/double majoring in Finance. In her freetime, Clare loves drinking tea, hanging out with her friends and catching up on her favorite TV shows!
Erin is a Communication student at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the President and Editor-in-Chief of UIC's Her Campus chapter. On a daily basis, she can be found making excessive film references and getting overly emotional about superhero TV shows. She has a deep passion for writing, movies, music, good books, and great food, and will gladly talk your ear off about all of the above if prompted to do so.Â