So you made it through high school and graduated as a “mature” and “experienced” senior only to be thrust back to the bottom in college. Once again, you’re the little guy on campus who has no idea what’s going on, watching the upperclassmen who seem to know what’s going on and wishing you could be like them. You’re not alone, we’re all confused together and that’s okay. When it comes to freshman year, we’ve got the good, the bad and the funny. Welcome to Freshman Problems.
As a high school senior last year, I remember walking through the hallways or sitting with my friends in the cafeteria watching 9th graders run by and thinking, “Yup, definitely a freshman.” Now that I’m here, I have to wonder, do they look at me and think that?
There’s nothing wrong with being a first year, every student on this campus was a first year at some point and they all got lost in Tribble just like we do now (if you’re reading this please come find me I think I’m somewhere between sections A and B and I only have so many granola bars). Even though we’ve all been there, being called a freshman can sometimes be a bad thing and maybe that’s why freshmen work so hard to cover it up.
This is the very first “freshman problem,” the grand concept of being a freshman at all. It seems like the other students on campus can smell your first-year residence hall on you because they always seem to know. Whether at parties or the library, they can tell you’re a freshman. It is because of this that some freshmen make attempts to dress like upperclassmen or refrain from asking questions when they need help. We don’t want anyone to know that we’re new.
The more I talk to other students, the more I realize that a lot of us are trying really hard not to act like freshman because we think people won’t like us. That’s ridiculous. You don’t need to copy what upperclassmen are wearing to fit in because (and here’s the secret) the upperclassmen are only wearing exactly what they want to wear. That’s the difference between freshman and the rest, the need to conform so quickly that suddenly everyone becomes the same. Wear what you wanna wear and eat when you want to even if it means sitting alone in the pit a couple times. If you wanna wear a jean skirt to go out again then great, do that, and if you don’t then don’t. Being a freshman can be scary because it’s a big change and there’s a lot of new information flying at you 24/7 so you’ve got enough to worry about. Let go of all that stress over what other people want from you. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about college, it’s that nobody cares what you’re doing so just be yourself, it’s much easier.
Got freshman problems? Need something cheaper than a therapist? Send me your thoughts! @repeam18@wfu.edu