After about a month on campus, the temperatures are dipping downward, the sun is still shining (for now), and we’ve begun to get a handle on our classes. As a seasoned sophomore, it seemed pretty easy to get back into the swing of campus life. Even though we spent a whole summer away from the Bend, it felt like only a few days had passed since I ate my last dining hall meal, made my last late night candy wall run at the Huddle, or trekked my last commute to DeBart.
But this time last year I was still getting acclimated to college life. I would be lying if I said the transition from high school to college went smoothly; the minute I felt like I had things figured out, a new hurdle came my way.
If you’re still scrambling to get used to college life, know you aren’t alone! Here are some of the biggest issues I struggled to overcome during my freshman year.
1. Accepting the fact that I won’t get 8 hours of sleep every night
This might be fairly obvious, but in college you aren’t always able to get a full eight hours of sleep every night. My definition of staying up late in high school was past 11 o’clock. Now I’m lucky if I’m in bed by midnight.
During my freshman year I started stressing when I thought about how much work I had to do and how it was all going to affect my sleep schedule. I panicked that my day would be terrible if I got less sleep than usual.
I eventually learned (and am still learning) that even if you get five hours of sleep, you will still be able to function the next day. I promise. You may need a little more coffee than usual, but you will get through the day.
And to those of you who only need five hours to function? I applaud you. But don’t feel ashamed if you need more than that to thrive. Don’t feel bad if you want to go to bed “early” and all your friends are heading out to start some late night “studying” at LaFun. (Because we all know that productivity goes down after a certain time in LaFun.)
Basically the moral of the story is: If you have to stay up super late one night, don’t sweat it. And if you aren’t the type of person that can stay up past midnight, don’t try to conform to all those stereotypical late night college studiers. Just do you.
2. Learning to take care of myself
Going off my last point, if you are constantly staying up late doing work, learn to take care of yourself. After a couple weeks of school, I noticed I was getting tired and stressed more quickly. I even began to suffer from iron deficiency anemia, meaning that I had severely low iron counts in my blood, which led to fatigue, hair loss, and headaches. I’m not saying that staying up late caused this reaction, but it certainly didn’t help the situation either.
You can’t burn the candle at both ends, as my mom always says. If you’re staying up late and getting up early, you’re going to get burnt out quickly. Fit in a nap somewhere in your day and try to take it easy. Get sleep on weekends. Your body will thank you.
3. Fitting in time to work out
Everyone comes into college being warned of the infamous “Freshman 15” that comes from the temptation of all-you-can-eat dining hall food. I will admit, I became overwhelmed more than once at the food options in both North and South and always vowed to myself that I absolutely had to work out every day to maintain a healthy weight. I would stress about it to the point that I would become upset with myself if I didn’t work out, and it would affect my mood for the rest of the day.
It was hard to learn but it’s honestly unrealistic to expect yourself to have time to work out every single day. Granted, there are a lot of people on campus who make it a top priority to get their grind on daily, and to them I say, “You go girl!” I am not a morning workout person and probably never will be, so I usually try to make time to work out in the afternoons or at night.
Now I have a personal goal to work out at least four days a week, so I’m not setting myself up for failure or heartbreak if I don’t work out every day. Pro tip: A short work out is a great study break and stress reliever!
4. Realizing that you actually have to keep working for good grades
When I first experienced this stress, I thought I was probably just being lazy. But after talking to a few other people, I realized that I wasn’t the only one struggling with this. While things might not have always come easy in high school, they certainly seemed to come easier than things here.
I thought there was something wrong with me when I couldn’t understand some subjects right away and had to spend hours studying. The most time I spent on homework in high school was a couple hours, but I’ve found in college (and you probably have too) that a couple hours will only make a small dent in your to-do list.
Also get used to the idea that you’ll never feel like you’re completely on top of all your tasks. There’s always something more to be done in college. (Sad, yet very true.)
5. Finding my identity
One of the most unsettling things for me was coming into college not knowing anyone. It seemed like a lot of people around me knew other people from their high schools. I was the only one from my high school class to come to Notre Dame, so I felt pretty lonely. It felt like I was at a disadvantage at the beginning, because I wandered around Domerfest while other people clung to their high school acquaintances in order to avoid awkward situations.
If you feel like that, know that the insecurity will fade eventually. Soon no one will care where you went to high school or how many people you know from your hometown. Sure, it’s nice to know those people are there in case you ever need to carpool home, but eventually you might not even be talking to them anymore. Now I have friends from all over the country, and it doesn’t matter that I’m the only one representing my high school class.
6. Choosing a major/discerning my passions
It seemed like everyone knew what they wanted to study when I arrived at Notre Dame. During the countless rounds of “Notre Dame introductions” I became overwhelmed when people easily rattled off their majors: accounting, chemical engineering, marketing, poly sci – the list went on and on.
I felt like the only one who had no idea what I wanted to study, and this uncertainty and self-consciousness led me to change my major three times! If you’re feeling stressed over not knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life, have no fear – you’re not alone! Also check out my article on the topic here.
7. Accepting that people change
This point has less to do with college life and more with home life. I have a great group of friends from high school and when I left for college, I was naïve enough to think that everything was going to say the same.
Collegiettes, don’t freak out if you go back home on breaks and realize that something has changed between you and your friends. After you get past catching up with everyone, you might feel like there’s been a slight shift in your dynamic. This won’t happen with all of your friends, but I noticed things had changed between some of my friends and I.
The fact of the matter is you shouldn’t want to stay the same person as you were in high school. You have probably already begun to change and haven’t even noticed it. College gives you a different outlook on life as you are exposed to new things every day. Each little interaction during your time here changes you – hopefully for the better. The same thing is happening to your friends.
You may be drifting apart from certain hometown friends while you get closer to new ones. Cherish the memories from your old friendships and don’t be hard on yourself if some friendships end up fading out. We’re on the journey called life, and not everyone from high school is meant to take the same path as us.
XOXO, HCND
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