College is a place of learning and experiencing new things, but there are some things that those $200 books can't teach you. Maybe it's lessons about yourself or lessons that those new friends are teaching you, either way, you're learning new things daily throughout your college experience.
1. Late nights will happen almost every night.
This is just the typical thing to do in college. Stay up late finishing homework or just the late-night run to McDonald's. It's bound to happen so if I were you, I would be preparing now because it hits you hard.
2. You should have never taken your parents for granted.
Even if sometimes you were annoyed or felt misunderstood, there's nothing like coming home on the weekend for a nice homemade meal. Or a little trip to Target or a free tank of gas. Once you get through your first year of college, your perception of your parent's changes and you realize just how important they really are.
3. The world is more expensive than you thought.
We used to think the most expensive thing was buying a candy bar for $5 and saved up our entire allowance for it. Since we're older now and have to pay for things ourselves, the necessities of life have now changed into 100's of dollars. With college loans always on our minds, these little expenses here and there add up to a lot of money that we never had to think about before.
4. Netflix is the best past time.
After a long day of classes and lectures, before we go back to finishing our homework, we just want some time to unwind and this is the best thing to do. We don't have to do anything but stare at a screen and watch our favorite TV show. It's not that we don't like doing other things, but we just would rather stick to ourselves and enjoy some alone time.
5. Your roommate will become your best friend.
Even if you don't start off super close, you will soon be spilling your heart out to them. All the latest things happening in your life and the drama with your Biology class. You'll be scheduling your day out so you can eat together and room together the next year. You'll have all the same friends and watch movies at 2 in the morning.
6. Studying 7 hours for a test is normal.
Even if it isn't the hardest class you have that semester, you'll still be sitting in your dorm room spending the entire night cramming for it. You'll spend hours in a group study session and even hours before the test continue to fill your brain up with the information you'll forget right after you take the test.
7. The $5 you spent when you were 5, is money you want back.
Even if it was just $5, those $5 is money that you need right now. Whether you're spending it on college books, tuition, or just your everyday coffee drink. You wish that you could go back and tell your 5-year-old self that you need that $5 when you're older for more important things.
8. How accountable you have to be for yourself.
No one is there to push you to go to class or wake you up in time. You have to do it by yourself and make sure you actually go to class. The teachers aren't going to ask you if you did your homework every day, you just have to do it.
9. Time goes by way too fast.
Before you know it, your freshman year of college is over and you don't have those exciting new experiences. You are soon going to be moving home for summer and coming back for your next year. You'll always remember those awkward first acquaintances and the late nights staying up with friends. When you come back the next year all those memories and the friends you made will be there waiting for you.
