Three years ago, I anxiously walked to the chem building for my very first college class – a 500 person psych 111 lecture in 1800 chem. I arrived approximately 40 minutes early and sat on the floor of the building with dozens of other nervous freshmen. At 11 am sharp, I was herded into the enormous classroom – one that could have eaten my private school classroom as a snack – with the other sweaty, lost, and confused freshmen. I didn’t know a single soul. Everyone back home told me to sit in the front of the classroom so it didn’t feel as daunting, so I stumbled down all the stairs until my dorky-self made my way to the front. When the professor walked in, I sat upright in my chair, surrounded by strangers, and inhaled deeply in an attempt to quiet my nerves. I promptly turned off my phone and dropped it into my backpack as I opened up my spiral notebook, pencil in hand, prepared to take down her every word.
Last week, I cheerily strutted down Church Street with my housemate a mere 20 minutes before my first class in that very same chem building. But this time, we laughed the whole way there, waved to our friends on the opposite side of the street, made plans to meet up for lunch, and wished each other a wonderful last first day of school. I laughed as I wandered the confusing and under-marked halls of the Chem building that I still do not understand as I attempted to locate room 1210. Along the way, I bumped into friends I’d met in various situations in the past 3 years, and we celebrated when we realized we were looking for the same room. We finally found our humid, smelly room in the back of the chem building and filed in just as the doors were opening. I sat immersed in my friends as we discussed our summers, welcome weeks, and Skeep’s plans for later that night. The professor started speaking and describing the course as we all sat on our laptops and cheered that there would be no tests or papers in this class.
A lot happened in those three years. Through trial and error, I realized what subjects I actually had an interest in, and was able to pick a major and two minors. After numerous trips around the Diag during festifall, I discovered passions I never knew I had and met people who would shape my opinions and experiences throughout college. I learned the campus by heart and began to appreciate the man who plays music by the UGLi, the few days a year that hammocks are hung on the Diag, and the fact that Angell, Mason, Tisch, and Haven Hall are all the same building. I found out that there are tons of upscale, trendy, delicious restaurants past the row of Chipotle, Noodles, and Panera if you just walk down East Liberty. And lastly, that Ann Arbor townies are not just there to entertain us, but actually have meaningful life stories that are worth asking about.
At the end of the day, there’s more to college than one thinks about when choosing a school. The city, people, classes – they all come together to create some of the best years of your life, if you embrace them. So freshmen, don’t you worry – get out of your comfort zone, befriend the person next to you in class, join a random club, and most importantly, be yourself. Because before you know it, you’ll be entering your last first class at the best place you could possibly be in.
Photo courtsey of campus.info.umich.edu.