Freshman year in college. Need I say more? This year was full of ups and downs and all kinds of crazy in between. Through good times and bad (there weren't a lot of bad), I somehow managed to survive. Here are some highlights of the most annoying things freshmen in college have to deal with.
1. People Caught My Dorm Building On Fire
We never had a fire drill this whole year but my 14-story, all-girls residence hall was evacuated not once, but twice, for things that I believe should be considered common sense. One girl put her foam mattress topper into the dryer and if you don't know why this is considered wrong, foam catches on fire when heated too much so don't ever put it in there!!! Another girl tried to heat a can of SPAM meat in her microwave. I thought for sure that by college people would at least know that aluminum should never go in the microwave. Luckily no one was injured during these events and my disgusting hundred-year-old dorm wasn't burned to the ground.
2. Parking Tickets
Moving to a new place and finding your way around can be a challenge for most people. It becomes even more challenging when every parking lot on campus is labeled with a different colored parking pass. Sometimes these labels like to hide from me and I am tricked into parking somewhere I'm not allowed. How crazy is that!? Thanks to the UA Parking staff on their golf carts patrolling around for illegal parkers like myself, I have dropped a great deal of cash on parking tickets starting at around $50 a pop. The absolute worst is getting towed though because there are countless towing companies and just tracking down your car is difficult! Not to mention the heavy fine for that one.
SEE ALSO:An Open Letter To The Parking At The University Of Alabama
3. Paying For A Meal Plan And Never Setting Foot In A Dining Hall
This year I purchased the Greek-55 Meal Plan which stated that I would be provided with daily meals at my sorority house with an additional 55 meal swipes in the various dining halls on campus. This also includes guest meal swipes - I can't remember how many but I think it was something like 15? Anyways, who the heck would trek across campus to go to a dining hall when your lovely sorority house is right across the street AND has better food? No one. This was for sure a waste of money.
4. Not Having Enough Storage For My Growing T-Shirt Collection
T-shirts on t-shirts on t-shirts. When does it end? Never. I will literally never stop collecting t-shirts. Out of the 4 clothing drawers I was provided with in my dorm, I dedicated one specifically for t-shirts as they are a wardrobe staple for college students (at the University of Alabama, at least). The real question here is - how many t-shirts is too many? Is it when your t-shirt drawer is overflowing? Is it bad that I keep ordering more t-shirts even though the drawer did completely overflow? Also, where is a good place to store overflow from my T-shirt drawer?
5. Visitation Policies
Visitation policies state the days and times of the week where friends, acquaintances, family members, and various strangers may enter and stay in the residence halls. Being in an all-girls dorm, our visitation policy was simple — no boys after 12 a.m. on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends — and absolutely no boys overnight. This quickly appeared to be an issue as I would walk down my hall late at night on the way back from the library or something and see random fraternity guys wandering around like lost puppies. There was also the special occasion of a boy in the bathroom, specifically passed out in the shower. College, right?
6. Friends Borrowing My Clothes And Never Returning Them
I feel like this isn't just a freshman thing because roommates and friends always share clothes, it just what they do. But really, this is so annoying because I like my clothes and I intended on keeping that cute purple tennis skirt after I bought it for myself, ya know? And that t-shirt I got at the beach with my family with the dog on it and that black snakeskin choker that looked good with every outfit - those were my favorites and now they're gone forever! I even had a Michael Jordan Bulls jersey that someone borrowed and never returned. I hope my things like their new homes.
7. Buying Ridiculous Outfits I'll Probably Never Wear At Home
Things in this category range from neon feather boas, wedding veils, and fleur-de-lis head boppers to low cut tops for wearing out at night. I have acquired so many different items that I now have a designated costume box where I keep everything I could possibly need for social events. I also have a new miniature wardrobe which consists of jeans, skirts, dresses, tops, and shoes - many of which I wouldn't dare wear in the light of day. Other items in this category include just plain things I wouldn't wear at home like brooks running shoes, OTBT's, choker necklaces and tennis skirt (see, "Why Sorority Girls Have No Sense Of Style" ). Anyways, this is annoying because I have doubled the amount of clothing I own and I will only wear most of it at school.
8. Registering For Classes
Freshmen get the short end of the stick here. When registering for classes, registration times go by number of credit hours. Since freshmen typically have the lowest number of credit hours, we get to sign up for classes after everyone else, leaving us with very little options. That literature class you're required to take? Music history? Forget about it, they're already full. Your solution is to check course lists literally every second of every day and pray really hard that something opens up - and that it's not an 8am.
9. Rain So Heavy That People Skip Class
This didn't seem to be an issue until spring semester. However, the 'monsoon-ing' has got to stop. This is the most ridiculous and inconvenient weather pattern. The streets flood, the quad floods, the buildings flood, the whole town of Tuscaloosa floods. This rain is so heavy that it is impossible to even get to class without getting drenched even while wearing a raincoat. One time it rained so hard that I somehow accumulated about 3 inches of water in the front pocket of my rain jacket. How is that even possible? People take this rain seriously — they don't go to class because they'd rather be nice and dry inside than take an unwanted shower on the way to class. Understandable.
10. The Fact That It's Over
This was one of the best years of my life and to see it go by so quickly is actually pretty sad. It seems like not too long ago, I was deciding where I wanted to continue my education. I have made so many great friends and met some really awesome people this year. I'll always remember my freshman year in college as a fantastic one and I can't wait to spend another 3 years at the greatest school on earth.
See you in the fall, Bama.