This May ends my first year of college. I feel like I’ve been in college for years, not just nine months. Strangely enough, during these months, I learned to do adult things. I have the ability to write an email and talk to strangers when I need to. Surprisingly, I had less mental breakdowns than I was expecting. And if I learn as much as I did during my freshman year over these next three years, I may be able to graduate as an adult. Here are twelve things I learned my freshman year of college:
1. All of the college clichés are true.
Listen to every piece of advice because it’s all painfully real. Whether it’s your parents saying you’ll need more than one bottle of shampoo to get through the first semester or an online article explaining how to confront your roommate about keeping your room clean, listen. No matter how boring and obvious it may sound, take the advice.
2. You’re actually capable of keeping yourself alive.
I can totally take care of myself, if that means eating in the dining hall and living in a dorm building. I can handle my responsibilities without having a mental breakdown (most of the time). I mean, if my campus didn’t provide the necessary items for my continuation of life, it might be different, but I’m just going to keep saying I’m an adult.
3. Adult responsibilities are the absolute worst.
Doing real things, like handling my bank account and having to buy shampoo when I run out instead of just using my sister’s, sucks. Adults need to spend money on things that aren’t fun, and that is heartbreaking.
4. If it’s free, it’s for me.
The word free makes me a happy person. I mean, who doesn’t want to just get stuff? I don’t care what the item is, I will run to get it if it’s free.
5. The people you surround yourself with represent you.
Don’t allow people who may not have matured yet to drag you down. The people you eat dinner with in the dining hall represent who you are. Be with people who encourage you to be your best self and to eat that brownie.
6. Finding “your people” makes up for losing high school friends.
College life took a complete flip for me when I found “my people”. Your people are so similar to you, it seems impossible at times. I love my friends. The aspect of popularity is obsolete in college. Your friends help to make the college experience everything you want it to be.
7. But, no one can replace your best friend.
I love the friends I’ve made throughout my freshman year, but no one will ever be able to replace my best friend from home. My best friend may not have met all of my friends at school, but she knows all of them by name. I’ll continue to make more friends for the next three years, but no one else will get eight texts in a row because I opened the door the wrong way.
8. Your email is everything.
Your email will never stop accumulating mail. All the information about what you’re involved in, your classes, and your extra curriculars will come to you through your email account. I’ve sent more emails this year than I ever thought was possible.
9. Take your dirty laundry home every single time you go home.
The laundry room in a dorm building of a couple hundred students is a horrible experience. Take advantage of leaving campus and take your dirty laundry home. It’s worth it not to deal with people forgetting they started their laundry and leaving no dryers open when all your clothes are soaking wet.
10. Say “Yes” to every opportunity.
Find what you like doing and continue to find everything related to that. Clubs and organizations are where you’ll make even more friends. Even when your friends want to go out to eat, or if your professor tells you about a panel for your major, go. Go to everything because you never know what is going to spark an interest.
11. Group Projects.
Please, end them. They never get any better.
12. You do you.
No one cares in college. Do what makes you happy because I’m not going to judge what you enjoy. You’re never going to have the abilities and the freedom to live as you choose as much as you do now, so make the most out of this time. Just don’t overdo it, because then I will have to judge you.