Every year thousands of freshly graduated high school students prepare for the biggest life-changing event they’ve been dreaming about since they were children: moving into college. It is no doubt that your freshman year of college will be crazy, emotional, and memorable. You might attend your first party and drink alcohol for the first time, you will also possibly experience the shock that comes when sitting among hundreds of other students in your first lecture class. Most of all, you will be confused. Confused about what’s going on around you and how you fit into all of it.
The countless Snapchat stories and Instagram pictures of your fellow high school classmates having a blast at their college may make you feel like you are missing out on something. Like maybe you aren’t doing something right. I am one of you. As of now, I am a month and a half into my freshman year of college at Washington State University. I have my major figured out, I am a part of three clubs, and I even have two of my close friends attending school with me! So why do I feel like something is missing? The term Freshman FOMO (fear of missing out) is something I hear a lot. I question whether I am making enough friends or if I’m doing enough social activities every time I open my Instagram and see another “I’m having so much fun at college!”
However, there is no “right” way to do college. No matter how many parties I go to I’m still going to feel haunted by what I see on social media. I miss driving my car, petting my cat, and eating my mom’s home-cooked meals. I think about going home a lot and what it would be like if I never even came to college. That’s okay. The important thing to remember is that everyone goes through a time of uncertainty in their freshman year. What’s gotten me through this period of hardship has been my realization of two things. That I greatly appreciate everyone in my life that has talked to me on the phone for hours, supported me in my decisions, and validated my feelings that what I’m going through is real and rational. Secondly, that I’m not alone. There are almost 30,000 students at my school, I’m not the only one that feels this way.
My biggest advice for anyone feeling alone during their first year of college is: keep moving forward. Appreciate the little things and go out of your way to try new things. Push yourself to go out of your comfort zone but also value your alone time. I don’t know if any of these work because I’m still going through this myself but I know if this helps one person then I must be doing SOMETHING right!