It’s already December, which means the first semester of college is over. It was a huge adjustment for the freshmen but, congrats! You made it to this point! Your first semester involved late nights in the library, not so appetizing dining hall meals and countless laughs with your new best friends. In just about four months you learned many lessons that you’ll remember for the rest of your college experience and here are 10 of them!
1. You understand the value of a dollar, maybe even a penny.
Now that you're a broke college student, you worship a single dollar. You become very conscious of your money. You might even go as far as picking up every penny you see. Yes, you’re one of those.
2. Don’t buy every textbook.
You ordered every textbook for every class, causing you to spend a crazy amount of money. In the first month of school, you did every assigned reading and you did them thoroughly. But, lets face it. By mid-October those expensive textbooks just sat on your desk and you didn't even open one again.
3. You learn to live with someone.
Living with another person can be extremely hard especially if you have your own room at home. It’s a huge adjustment. You can’t just throw your shit all over the place or go on the computer without having a pair of headphones right by you. Make sure to talk to your roommate about establishing boundaries.
4. Everyone is from different backgrounds.
In high school you're used to everyone living in the same town and having the same upbringing as you. After the first couple weeks of school you realize how many people are from different countries and you find out that it's cool that you can still easily relate to them.'
5. You appreciate your mom's cooking.
When you're having the same salad from the salad bar for the third week in a row, you start to regret all the times you complained about having to stay home to eat. But, now you crave a home-cooked meal instead of forcing yourself to eat at the dining hall.
6. You won’t wear half the clothes you brought.
Before college started, you went to the mall several times to buy a new wardrobe. You also brought every item of clothing in your closet. But, once you got to college you wear sweats, athletic clothes, or the same jeans each week. And when it’s time to go out, you wear your one go-to black shirt.
7. The freshman fifteen is more like the freshman fifty.
Ice cream after dinner every night and late night eating was something you said you’d never do... until you realized how many flavors there were and how delicious the pizza is from the pizzeria down the street.
8. You won't be best friends with the people you met at orientation.
During orientation you are so desperate to make friends. After orientation week ends and classes start, you find yourself making new friends. You now feel so awkward when you see the people you met during orientation, but that's OK! As the semester goes on, you start to realize who can be a true friend and who is just an acquaintance.
9.) You already know college is so much better than high school.
“How did I survive a six-hour school day?!” College is a lot of work and is extremely stressful, but having two or three classes a day instead of six is so much better. Plus, we can nap in between classes and even have days off!
10.) College will fly by,
It’s already the end of the first semester of college. I’m sure it feels like just yesterday that you were going to your first class on the first day. College goes by so fast. It’s supposed to be the best four years of your life, so meet new people, go out with your best friends, study hard, and in general take advantage of every opportunity.
