12 Things I’ve Learned in my First Few Months of College

1. College life is weird

I think once I stepped out of my sheltered life in high school  I finally realized how WEIRD college life is. Things you never thought would happen, happen. You experience a million different crazy, over stimulating things at once, but that’s what makes college so different and fun: embracing and thriving in the weirdness of it.

2. You start to pick up things from the people around you…

I can’t count the amount of things I now say because I am constantly surrounded by people from different places and backgrounds. I have picked up so much slang and different phrases from my friends, and the little quirks in their personalities are starting to rub off on me.

3. …but at the same time, you become more of an individual

As much as I am always surrounded by other people here at SJU, there is so much room for me to grow as an individual and learn more about myself. Being in this new atmosphere has given me a new appreciation for alone time and getting to know myself better.

4. You never stop making friends

Wherever you go, you are always bound to meet a new face and make a new friend. I thought that the friend-making process would end after the first couple “honeymoon” weeks of being here, but I have come to find that I am still meeting new people and making memories with them :)

5. Responsibility is hard, but manageable

As an only child who always had her own room, who never did her laundry and who was lucky enough to have her lovely parents home cook each meal, I was very afraid of the responsibility I would have to take up in college. It sure is hard at times to throw in that load of whites when I am tired and lazy, but it really is not the end of the world and it is much easier than I expected.

6. Home-cooked meals are underrated

Oh man did I take real food for granted. Now I treasure when I get real food because I am constantly surrounded by the shortcomings of Campion (especially Camp on a Sunday night, when there is legitimately no food in sight).

7. Sleep in college is a rarity, not a given

Even when there is an opportunity to get an extra hour, it never works out. I have had to accept that I will never go to bed before midnight and that I will take innumerable naps throughout the day to compensate.

8. Late night food = ALWAYS the move

Whether it’s my beloved parmesan garlic bites from Domino’s or a classic cheesesteak at good ol’ Larry’s, some grub at 3 am is NEVER a bad call.

9. You can try anything and be anything

College is a new start. No one knows anything about your past, that you were the star athlete or the lead in the musical in high school, or whatever it may have been. You could completely reinvent yourself in college and you have all the freedom to do so! There are so many clubs, leadership opportunities, and so on to take part in, and there is no mold whatsoever that you have to fill.

10. You will be let down at times, but it’s ok

Coming into college, everyone has so many expectations. I was expecting for all these things to happen to me right as I got to school but, as it usually goes in life, you don’t always get what you want. And that’s OKAY. Life is a journey, not a destination, and just because things don’t go as planned, it doesn’t mean that life at college isn’t beautiful and enjoyable. I have learned to take everything in stride and just enjoy each day for what it is, without an preconceived notions of what my experience should be like.

11. It’s a SMALL world

Everyone knows everyone here in some oddly connected way. One friend knows another from home, this one is that one’s second cousin, I see some people I have known for years walking around campus, and so on. It’s crazy but also hilarious how everyone seems to be interconnected.

12. College is overall wonderful and it’s what you make of it

The biggest thing I’ve come to learn at SJU is that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world. Life here on Hawk Hill is so great, despite a crappy lunch in Campion or a sucky trek to Merion Hall in the rain, but I have never been happier and I wouldn’t trade my experience here for the world. Everything that happens to me here at SJU makes me realize more and more that I am meant to be here, and I am forever grateful that I get to be a hawk!!! I can’t wait to see where my future here at SJU will take me.

#THWND

HCXO,

Gianna