Expectation vs. Reality First Year

Everyone arrives on move-in day with a different set of expectations and fears. During first year you’ll find out that life at university is so much more than what you thought it would be!

Rez Life Will Look Like the Pictures

Like so many other things on this list, residence life is what you make it out to be. Everything from your floor to your cafeteria is going to influence how you spend your time in rez.

The best parts are never going to be caught on camera, but you will definitely find yourself living out one of those stock image situations at some point. Personally, my favourite moments are silent hangouts with friends, scrolling through phones in bed.

Drinking Every Weekend

The reality is that no one cares if you drink or don’t. Alcohol is EXPENSIVE, hard to obtain and hangovers are basically day long reminders that vodka is essentially diluted poison. How often you drink is up to you but remember to be safe and that partying can take a lot out of you. Remember that having a good time is really about who you’re with and not what you’re drinking!

Professors Don’t Care About You

Professors are just adults who either love their jobs and what they are teaching, or need to teach something while they research what they love. Either way they’re passionate and generally not heartless. In addition, you have blessed, blessed TAs who are grad students paid to answer your questions and help you navigate your course.

You Are Completely Independent

You are MORE independent but definitely not completely independent. Even if your parents expect you to completely provide for yourself, you are not alone and have the support of your RA, sophs and all of rez and campus resources to your disposal. Independence is scary but also surprisingly exhilarating.  

You and Your Roommate Will Be BFFs

The chances that the university assigned you to live with the platonic love of your life is quite low. Roommates are generally the first to feel the wrath of the other’s frustration, and living in a room with someone when you are so used to having your own can really rub you the wrong way.  Maybe you’ll luck out and find someone you can vibe with! Maybe you’ll never see them because of opposite sleep schedules.

You Will Have a New Super Close Group of Friends

Maybe! Probably not, though. Friends will come and go but really good ones are so hard to find and if you don’t in first year, you have the rest of your life to do so. Seriously! Most people don’t find that super close friend group until their third or fourth year and even then, those are some pretty high expectations. Something that’s super important but so hard to do is learning to love being alone with yourself.  

You suddenly have a terrifying amount of work to do

This one’s a little true but don’t be scared! You’ll not only get it done but be super proud of yourself when you do. Also, now that you’ve got that beautiful new sense of independence, you can decide when binge watching “R.I.P Vine” compilations make the 2% penalty on a late assignment worth it.

O-Week is the Best Week of Your Life

I didn’t even know O-Week was a thing until students with unrealistic names and megaphones were yelling excitedly about it to my conservative family and me on move in day. Later that week, walking back from exploring campus with people I didn’t know, random male students (after inquiring if we’ve ever done Molly) told us this would be the best week of our LIVES. Why would they say that?! Sure, the university organizes lit AF concerts and rallies during that week, but you’re also surrounded by nervous teens overcompensating for their lack of life experience by demonstrating they are capable of getting alcohol poisoning. The best week of your year will probably be when you realize you don’t have to wear makeup (or even change out of your pajamas) to go to class.

Related articles: 

• Why Second Year is Way Harder Than First Year

• Essay Writing 101

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• first year
• reality
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