Weeks 1-3
Being a Georgia native, throughout high school, I’d always heard about the amazement that is the University of Georgia. From its undeniably high-esteemed academic program to its social life that brings visitors from various universities to a weekend in Athens, UGA offers plenty for both students and visitors. Needless to say, when I was accepted into my dream school I was on a high that lasted until the week I moved in.
My first three weeks being here were far from the high expectations I had built in my mind. The first week here I felt no such things as homesickness or nerves, I was simply beyond excited. When the second week rolled around, I was still hopeful, albeit a bit worried because I had yet to find friends like the ones I had in high school. However, when the third week came I started to feel like something was wrong. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t living the college experience I thought I should’ve had. How was it that people were already making friend groups and going out and I wasn’t? The only thing going according to plan were my classes, and after having senioritis a few months back, I was truly overjoyed that my love for school had come back. Overall, I was panicking that my college life would be awful.
Weeks 4-6
Into my fourth week of college, I began to enjoy the social scene in Athens to a greater extent. Yes, I’d gone out a couple of times before, but this was the week when my roommate and I finally started going out with some friends we’d made. I finally started to feel like things were going well. The weekend of the fifth week I went home just for one night, and I definitely saw the reason people advised me to not go home during the first few months. Returning to Athens is when I had my first mini-identity crisis, as I like to label it. I was headed back to college which was a place where I had loads of unknowns and uncertainties. It was easy to miss home, a place where I had lived my entire life, and I knew the roads like I knew the back of my hand. Home was the place where I knew I’d always have my friends and people to love me, but in college, I had no such things, with the exception of my roommate who was a hometown best friend.
Week six is when the schoolwork started picking up. I had three exams back-to-back, and high school, despite all the AP classes I had taken, did not prepare me for this. For starters, I had no idea how to study because I was one of those kids in high school who got away with an A with minimal effort. I had to teach myself how to study for these tests and it was not easy in the slightest. Who knew college classes were actually going to require constant work? Not me! Regardless, I ended up making all A’s on all three tests so that definitely eased my tension, but it was a difficult transition from high school classes. I’m lucky enough to have picked a major that I truly love so the classes actually keep me engaged, but I do know there are people already changing their major before the semester is even over, I just happen to be one of the fortunate ones.
Weeks 7-9
Week seven is when my roommate and I had developed a pretty steady going-out schedule. It was a typical one, we only went out on Friday and Saturday. Even going out twice a week was not enough to ease my feeling that I was still not having the college experience I had in mind. How come there were people going out four times a week and I was only going out two days? I was clearly doing something wrong, where could I find friends who constantly had fun?
It wasn’t until the end of week eight that I appreciated having more time to myself than most peers did. I realized this through learning my lesson, the way I learn most things if I’m being honest. I went out the four nights a week that I was jealous of other people for doing, and geez was that a mistake! Let’s just say that being constantly tired from going out is not a healthy and definitely not an enjoyable feeling for me. All I wanted to do after week eight was lie in my bed and wait plenty of days before I even considered going out again. Lesson thoroughly learned.
Now, I’m halfway through my ninth week here, and I am far from fully figuring out where I stand, but I am a long way from the scared, sad new freshman I was during my first three weeks here. The biggest thing I’ve learned so far is that I truly don’t need to be doing what I think everyone else is. I have my own pace and I feel like focusing on my schoolwork throughout the week and having a bit of fun on weekends is what makes me happy right now. Personally, I feel more on track with my classes, and I definitely feel like it benefits my grades when I give proper attention to school. I also find that I enjoy my social outings more when I have some days away from it. The anticipation for it makes it more worth it. This is what works for me, but of course, I’m sure there are people who are happier being more social or less. Overall, I think it’s okay that it took me time to figure out my college life. I came into it having a certain image in my head, but once I was actually here is when I figured out the experience that I wanted and realized college isn’t a “one size fits all.”