Five Little Nuggets of Wisdom to Begin Your Freshman Year

College is something of an enigma, and with all these articles and listicles going on and on about tips and tricks to hack the college life (most of them I find spouting the same bullshit over and over again), a hard pill to swallow is to know that no matter how much reading you do to prepare, you won’t know until you get there.

As someone who is the first-born and regularly has to go in blind with literally everything, here are five things that I wish an older sibling told me.

ONE: Take a picture of everything you own.

I know this sounds tedious when you have numerous boxes and bags and feel like they all blend into each other. However, you’ll thank me later. Especially, at the end of the year, when your roommate is packing up “their” bowls, and naturally, you question them (because honestly you can’t even remember the last time you opened your cupboard), and they unthinkingly say, “They’re mine!” Even though you have a sneaking suspicion they’re not, you have no concrete proof. I’m looking at you, Robin.

TWO: For the love of God, sweep.

Or dust. Whatever you need to do to avoid a mob of dust bunnies raging underneath your bed. Set one day aside a week, or even once every two weeks. You’ll thank me later when you’re not living underneath a layer of your own dead skin cells.

THREE: Know it’s not high school.

High school hierarchy is over, people (and it frankly never mattered in the first place)! College culture is a whole new wagon, baby! Saddle up! It’s a place where you can hang out with whoever, whenever. Eat whatever you want and wear whatever you want! Show up to class in a onesie? In high school people might think it’s cringy, but in college most people will be jealous.

College students are a whole new breed.

FOUR: Sleeping schedule who?

Everyone says this, and it’s true. You don’t have to wake up at 5 AM anymore. Your first class could be at 12, and you could sleep in till 11:45. Some days you’ll sleep 18 hours straight, others you’ll be running on thirty minutes of dozing and four cups of coffee. Time doesn’t exist on a college campus.

FIVE: Know that it’s going to be hard.

You’re doubtful. You don’t know what you’re going to do. You don’t know what major you’re going to declare, and it doesn’t help that everybody’s asking. The roommates that have provided and lived with you for the past 18 years have just kicked you out into a brand-new world. It’s absolutely terrifying!

But great news!

Absolutely no one, and I mean no one, has a concrete idea either! We’re all just flailing around until we find something that sticks, and the greatest news is you’re stuck with people in the exact same boat as you. Embrace it and know that it’ll be never like this again.

• advice
• first year
• freshman