I’ve been a student at the University of Georgia for almost a full month, and for the most part, things are going really well! I have great roommates, I like my professors, and I’ve made a few new friends. Of course, some things aren’t so awesome. I’ve made a list of the top five struggles I’ve had during my first month of freshman year. These go a little further in-depth than the average “walking into the wrong class” and “getting on the wrong bus” – but I have done both of those things.
5) Classes
My classes haven’t presented me with any challenges too difficult quite yet, but we’re in early days yet. The difficult thing with my classes is when they are, not what they are. My concerns at orientation were threefold: get good professors, don’t take 8ams, and don’t take classes 15 minutes apart. I’m not a morning person, nor do I like running all over this massive campus. This led to two to three hour blocks in between my classes. This is fine, but it means I have to find a space to sit and chill out in-between my classes. Somedays, this is the best time to pump out a paper, do some reading, or get ahead for my online Spanish work. Other days, I wind up sitting near a friend and chatting or somehow jumping from music videos to television show bloopers on YouTube.
I switched my English class to take a professor with higher ratings on the second day of school after hawking Athena for an open slot, but the only available class time was a 5-6:15pm, which means my friends have already eaten and I’m getting back to my dorm late. It’s all a matter of scheduling, and next semester I’ll be more conscious of where and when my classes are, preferably in the morning, preferably done before it gets to be evening.
4) Rooming
Somehow, I was lucky enough to be a freshman put in an apartment style dorm in East Campus Village. I have my own room, I share a bathroom with the girl I decided to room with (we call each other ‘bathroomies’) and we share a living space complete with furniture and a kitchen with two other people. This is much more luxurious than some people have, but it is still a big adjustment.
This style of housing means most of the people living in my building are 6-foot-something athletes that make me feel incredibly small and intimidated. It also means people don’t have their doors open to meet new people like they would in a typical freshman dorm, so I don’t know how many in-building friends I’ll make. East Campus Village is also a good distance away from the usual freshman dorm. If any of my friends want to visit, they have to figure out a bus route or drive over because it’s not a quick walk.
The apartment a kitchen means there’s often a mess, which means someone didn’t clean up after themselves. Seeing dirty dishes pile up can be frustrating and just plain gross, but luckily, my roomies tend to be on the cleaner side. However, someone has to step up and sweep the floor, wipe down the counters, and take out the trash. We’re still determining if we need some kind of “chore chart” to keep this fair. Another caveat to apartment living is that we’re the ones supplying shower and bathroom cleaning supplies and doing the cleaning itself.
Another thing is noise – at what time can you ask someone to turn down their music? When is it rude to have friends over in the living room? One of my roomies enjoys having loud conversations on the phone with their family around 11:30pm at night and slamming the doors as they come in and out of the apartment. We can all try to gently tell each other when something is irritating, and hopefully the peace can be kept all year.
3) Homesickness
This one is pretty obvious and simple. One of my friends at home had told me that there was a “six week rule” – to not go home and/or have your family visit you for the first six weeks of college. Initially, I figured this would be easy. It wasn’t. My family visited me on the third weekend of school. This was perfect, because I would’ve taken a last minute trip home to see them if they hadn’t already been planning on visiting me.
The homesickness randomly hit me on a Wednesday, when my Spanish professor asked us if we preferred living at college or at home. Suddenly and all at once, I was quite ready to see my mom and dad, and even my siblings, who promised they would not miss me. When they did come visit me for lunch, my siblings were vying for my attention… yeah, the feeling of being missed was definitely not mutual.
It’s normal to experience homesickness and go home for the weekend when it’s possible or to ask your family to come visit! Don’t feel like you’re not strong just because you want to see your family. It’s weird to go from spending the majority of your time with your family to living over an hour away from them.
2) Time management
With all the time in-between my classes, I can normally get my homework done before I arrive home after my last class every day. This means I’m often in my dorm with seemingly nothing to do. I normally try to get ahead on class time, and if I didn’t accomplish anything in-between classes, I double check to make sure my work for the next day is done. I do my laundry in the morning, and at nights, the options are basically to watch Netflix or to go to the gym.
I wasn’t really a gym person before I got to this campus, and I certainly walk more here than I ever did in high school. However, it feels really nice to go bike or work out on an elliptical after sitting around and doing school work all day. I just finished watching all of Jane the Virgin on Netflix, and I’m trying to get through Gilmore Girls before the revival hits Netflix this fall, but I don’t really spend too much of my spare time on Netflix (at least, not yet).
However, sometimes it still seems like I’m not being productive enough or using my time effectively. I go between feeling like there’s absolutely nothing to do, and seeming like every single class has work that I need to be doing all at once. It’s all a matter of making and establishing a schedule, and figuring out what work is a priority and what classes require more attention than others.
1) Fire Ants
When packing for college, nobody told me to bring Benadryl. Ibuprofen, sure, maybe some band-aids. I had sunscreen and bug repellant, but wasn’t really too worried about insect bites, but more about finding insects in my apartment (none sighted yet!). During my first week of school I was just minding my own business, waiting at a bench to meet up with a friend when I felt something painful sting my toe. I flicked off a red ant and thought nothing of it… Until later that night when my toe and foot were red, swollen, and in pain. A toe is a very inconvenient location for this problem, because it’s going to be irritated by shoes and a band-aid will absolutely not stick. I dreaded walking long distances because I knew it would hurt.
This was irritating, but eventually everything calmed down and I didn’t have to be in pain during my miles of walking during the day. I thought I was in the clear. I was wrong. While walking from the MLC to a bus stop, I felt that all-too-familiar sting on my ankle. Within an hour or so, my ankle was swollen all around, making it twice the size it normally is. Both bites occurred on the same foot, so it’s been a nice cycle of swelling, burning, and numbness.
When heading to UGA, I definitely didn’t think red ants would cause me the most trouble. You learn something new every day!