I remember stepping on my college campus for the first time at orientation, so full of anxiety and hope. I think I speak for everyone when I say I had high hopes for the collegiate experience. I would be on my own for the first time in my life with a whole new group of people. Ah yes, I know it well. Looking back on it now, you almost have to laugh. That naivety has been destroyed in a storm of panic, Starbucks and very little sleep.
1. Expectation: Your classes will be so much more interesting than in high school.
The names may be more exciting, but it is all the same. You walk into a room, sit for 50-150 minutes in silence while a teacher speaks to you, and then you move on to the next thing. Just because the class is called something fancy doesn't mean it is any more fascinating than what you had in high school.
2. Expectation: You will have so much free time during the week.
It is really awesome that classes are not one right after the other. What is not awesome is the small breaks in between the classes you have where you barely have enough time to go back to your room for food, let alone time to relax. At the end of the day, you will be just as exhausted as you have always been.
3. Expectation: You will make friends with everyone in your classes.
College is full of all sorts of new faces and people that you will think become huge parts of your life. Some of them will, but you cannot possibly be everyone's new best friend (unless you go to school with about five other people). A lot of your time will be spent awkwardly trying to make conversation with people that you will only see in passing on campus for the next three years. Make your choices carefully.
4. Expectation: You will be able to start doing sophisticated "adult" activities.
It may seem like your new found freedom will allow you to do things like go to brunch on Sundays and go to fun events like The Color Run. However, things like these require money. If you are fortunate enough to be able to spend that kind of money, good for you! I will be with most of the college students eating soup in their room while watching Netflix.
5. Expectation: You will finally get in shape
I know. You have the best of intentions at the beginning of the semester. You go to the gym every day and feel like you can conquer the world. The woes of the world will eventually crush your resolve and leave you sobbing on the floor eating Ben and Jerry's at 2 a.m. Just let it happen and try again next semester.
6. Expectation: You will get to let loose and party all the time.
I am not saying you will not get "lit" as the kids are calling it these days. That will certainly happen, but you will quickly discover that you will wake up the next morning and still have class. You might soon find that going out until 4 a.m. every night may not be the most exciting option in the world when you suddenly have to write a 20 page paper in one night.
7. Expectation: Your room will be like something out of Pinterest.
Look at this. I have never seen any college dorm room that has ever looked like this without hours of intensive labor. The cinder block walls of my first two years of college could not have been so nicely covered up. For most of the plebeians, it will be some posters and pictures on a wall to make the off-white color look slightly more interesting.
8. Expectation: The food will be far better than anything you were served in high school.
Just because there is a lot of it does not make it good. The dining hall can either be the best place on campus or the worst. Some days, they will have the most delightful options to satisfy all of your cravings. Others, you will have to be content to watch someone steal the toast that you just put in the oven. It happens.
9. Expectation: You will become a fully functioning member of society.
College means that you are now an adult. You may think that the word means finally learning what life is all about, but you would be in for a rude awakening. There is no magical college fairy with all of the knowledge. Everyone is struggling to paddle up the stream of life with no idea how to do the basic tasks of living. We just have to figure it out along the way.
10. Expectation: You will finally know exactly what you want to do with your life.
So much of college is concentrated around the concept of the major. What you choose to major in is what you are supposed to set the rest of your life goals on. You will soon find that the major is just another label and you can pretty much do whatever you want with your life. It is not the answer to the question of what you want to do when you grow up. It is pretty much just what you have to endure to get that degree.
11. Expectation: Things will get easier as you get older.
You think that college is going to be a pleasure cruise after the travesty of high school. Nope. Not at all. If anything, the massive responsibilities that are now heaped on you make life more complicated. You will not be prepared for it. You will not expect it. Welcome to the wonderful world of growing up.
You may think that I am a cynic or just mildly sarcastic, but I am sure that there is something on this list that you can intimately relate to. It's not a critique of the college system, just an honest reflection on how expectation can be completely flipped on its head. No matter how hard it can be, college is an absolutely incredible experience that will change your life forever. Just don't expect it to be all daffodils and rainbows.
