This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Cal Poly chapter.

My name is Emily, and I am a first-year English major here at Cal Poly. I come from a very small town, which has led me to learn a lot since starting college. I couldn’t possibly list all of those lessons, but here are eight standout ones. I present these lessons modestly and from personal experience completely.

Life is hard. This seems like a bit of a rough start, but I don’t mean it in a pessimistic way. I have had a hard time transitioning into college on top of a difficult past year in general, so this lesson has been a big one for me. Since moving to college, I have run into a lot of personal struggles that have affected my mental health, which was already prone to anxiety. Dealing with loss, stress, homesickness, and mental health issues has contributed to what has felt like daily struggles, however big or small. All that being said, life is still so, so beautiful. Moving to college has been hard, but it has brought so many amazing things my way as well, and despite all of my struggles, I still have so many blessings in my life. College may have made me realize how difficult life can be, but it has not made me forget how amazing my life is and how lucky I am to be able to go to a great school like Cal Poly.
Cal Poly food really is a struggle. Another thing I’m lucky for in my life is that my parents are amazing cooks. This might be a contributing factor to the negative feelings I have for Cal Poly food. I haven’t loved the taste, the options, or the prices of most places on campus. I have a more comprehensive review of my feelings on campus food in another article, “My First Quarter Eating Cal Poly Food,” but long story short, while it is hard to find great options on campus, there are ways to get around the struggle. Everyone has different tastes and priorities, but I think that if you look, you will find a system that works for you to keep yourself sustained and satisfied.
Headphones and a good playlist are a must. During WOW week, I had a sudden realization that at home, I had not used my headphones all that much. I would mainly listen to music in the car (but I didn’t have my car at school with me) or out loud on my phone when I was home alone (in the dorms and especially during WOW week, there isn’t much alone time). And once I got to using my AirPods everyday, my mental health was in a much better place. It really helped initially with the stress and homesickness that I was feeling at the beginning of the year, but I still listen to music pretty much all the time when I’m not in class or with my friends. Being able to tune into my own playlists daily really helps with my mood.
Cal Poly calves are real. I’m from the Central Valley and I did not even realize how flat it is there until coming to Cal Poly. The hills here are beautiful and I’m so glad we have these amazing views. The other side of that coin though, is the fact that pretty much the whole campus is built on top of hills. That means that to get to class, you have to go through hills. It’s not a struggle that I necessarily notice every day, and I don’t know if there is actually any difference in my calves, but I do break a sweat walking to and from class sometimes, and getting around the day after leg day can be a little rough.
College classes require A LOT of reading. This is especially true for me as an English major, but it applies to all of the non-English classes I’ve taken as well. I will say that at times the reading is not essential, but in my experience there has been a ton of reading assigned for each class weekly. I’m in my third quarter at Cal Poly and I’m still not used to this. It’s definitely really important to keep track of current and upcoming reading assignments for all classes and try to make time for them. Everyone has different organization techniques, so part of this learning curve is figuring out what works for you and remembering to use that organization system daily so you don’t forget about any assignments.
Being an adult is scary. From having to log in to the Money Matters tab and pay dues regularly to getting my first real job, this year has taught me a lot about the stress of adulthood. I’m sure I knew that a lot of things about it sucked, because that’s what adults are always telling kids. But something about being in college and having to take care of so many more responsibilities makes it feel much more real. There are things about being a legal adult that are not so bad, but the added responsibility and independence can be a bit overwhelming at times. Logically I should’ve expected that before coming to college, but you never really understand why adults are telling you “being an adult sucks” until you experience it.
Prioritizing your mental health is what makes it better. One of the reasons that I decided to come to Cal Poly was because it was far from my hometown, and I felt that forcing myself outside of my comfort zone might help with my anxiety issues. As it turns out, many of my anxiety issues stayed the same or worsened. I’m obviously no professional on the matter, but what this part of my college experience has taught me is that facing mental health issues in a roundabout way is not very effective. The only time that I feel relief from my anxiety issues is when I make a point of doing things directly related to helping my mental health. For me, that consists of things like listening to music, trying to get myself to exercise, prioritizing alone time, reading for pleasure, or reaching out to resources available through Cal Poly counseling. Those resources are something I have not taken full advantage of yet, but they are available and I have had good experiences the times I have reached out before. Besides pursuing some form of counseling, I have learned that it is really important to find ways to tackle my mental health issues head on, but to also give myself time to be ready to do so.
College is as fun as you make it. Personally, my fall quarter was for the most part an adjustment period, with a lot of free time available, my winter quarter was taken up mostly by work and school, and my spring quarter so far has been more of a mix of work and fun. I’m taking 16 units, as opposed to 12 fall quarter and 20 winter quarter, and I’m working fewer hours than I did last quarter. While I still feel busy now, I don’t feel overloaded or fully booked like I was last quarter. I have my time to go out and do fun things with friends, but I still have to devote a lot of time to school. I wouldn’t say I exactly have the hang of balancing work and play, but I’ve come closer since starting college. I would say, however, that there is a lot of flexibility here at Cal Poly with how you want to make up your schedule, depending on your personal needs. If you are particularly motivated in terms of academics, you can focus your schedule on that and you might have less free time, or if you are looking for more free time or extracurricular activities, you can go lighter on your class schedule, or you can find some in between. If you are a working student, having a job with flexible hours is essential so that you can always work around school and your personal life. The quarter system also makes it easy to find your balance because with three different class schedules throughout the year, you have three opportunities to prioritize different things for different chunks of the year. Overall, prioritizing free time is pretty easy to implement in life at Cal Poly, so having fun depends on your individual openness to doing so.

There is so much to learn in college in general, and here at Cal Poly in specific. These 8 things are just a taste of my first year at Cal Poly, and I hope that they provide a little bit of insight into what the college transition entails, or at least what it has entailed for me.

8 Things I Learned During My First Year as a Mustang

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