How I Found My Determination In College

College, a place where you find freedom and discover yourself. I’d always heard that college was the best time of your life and I’d always looked forward to it, but I never realized just how much determination goes into college.

My first week of college was the worst week of my life. Four hours, that was all it took before I realized that this wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. That rude awakening came in the form of my first roommate. I knew very little about her, but nothing could have prepared me for actually meeting her. I wanted to be one of the first people who moved into the hall, so my father and I had signed up to help people move in. That was my first mistake.

Let me explain. I don’t own a ton of stuff and I only brought what I knew I needed to college. All together, I think I brought three suite cases, a duffle bag, and bedding in a hamper. I always try to pack condensed like this, and I thought that everyone would have as few things as I did. I realized as I carried up literally an entire uhaul’s worth of stuff into the tiny room in Eggers that most pople brought a lot more than I did. When it was all said and done, there was, no joke, a mountain of stuff flowing out of the tiny closet, across the desk, and onto the floor, creating a perfect line down the middle of the room.

By the end of day one, she was ordering me around, by day two, she was messing with my things and I was physically sick from the smell of everything she had brought into the room. On day three I had enough and I began to work on getting out of the dorm. I have never had to work harder at anything than I did trying to get out of that room. If you want to see what determination in college looks like, it was me on that Monday and Tuesday trying to get out of that room. 

Thankfully, my saving grace came in the form of my advisor on day four. She saw how terrible I looked and asked me if I was okay. I went with her to her office and after telling her about how unsafe and uncomfortable I was in my room, she sent me to the counseling center and helped me call the people who could give me a room change.

Finally, after a full thirty-two hours of talking to people, and four days with little food and no sleep, I was able to move into another room in a much better dorm, and I started to feel safe. I started being able to do what your supposed to do in college, have fun.

In a way, I am thankful for that experience. It helped me to set a standard for determination in college, which may be the most important aspect of success in college.