It’s kind of cliche by now, isn’t it? To talk about all the ways we change and grow after one year of college. But really, what else can be expected, since many of us haven’t ever been away from home that long? Suddenly, when we arrive, most of us don’t have parents hovering over us, watching everything we do, and we’re free to explore so many possibilities that weren’t open to us before.
I just finished up my first year of college, and I’ve learned a lot, both in the classroom and out. The most important things I’ve learned were about myself, however. So here’s my totally cliche list of things I learned about myself while being on my own for the first time.
1. I Own Nothing
I moved into my dorm room and, the very next day, was blown away by the sheer amount of stuff my roommate had. Just stuff, everywhere. Origami snails and fancy headphones and tiny potted succulents. So. Much. Stuff. The few people whose rooms I saw in the dorms were similarly over-stuffed with stuff. Me? I somehow manage to survive with a bed, a laptop and some books (OK...a lot of books.) At first, I thought maybe I’d just downsized my belongings more than most people when I realized how small my room was. But as it turns out, I just don’t hold onto as much stuff as most people seem to. I’m a minimalist, or at least, more so than the average college student.
2. I Don’t Play Well With Others
In high school, I lived with my mother, and we lived about ten miles from the nearest town, where I went to school. I didn’t have a car until my senior year, and even then, gas prices made it pretty impossible to see anyone outside of school, as did the lack of recreational activities in town. Consequently, I was mostly stuck with my mother and my sister for company, and spending the vast majority of the time with my family outside of school did not make for well-developed social skills.
It wasn’t until I moved into my college dorm room that I realized I really suck at making friends. My roommate and I were constantly butting heads—me because I had socializing experience outside of school, and her because she was way too used to getting what she wanted. Dealing with people who weren’t family or who weren’t in my classes was so foreign to me, and even now, a year later, I find it baffling to talk to new people, although I have managed to acquire a few decent friends by now.
3. I’m A Horrible Procrastinator
In high school, there was so much homework every night that the only possible way to get it all done was to do it as soon as I got home. This usually only left time for dinner and maybe some reading afterward. I had class all day, every day. Free time was nonexistent.
College is very different. Depending on the course load, you can expect varying amounts of homework. I only took four or five course my first two semesters, which left me with huge blocks of time every day. I had more homework than I did in high school, but the pressure to get it done was very different. Due dates were spread out throughout the month, assignments were deceptively difficult, and I had so much free time, I felt I could always get it done at some undetermined time in the future. To top it all off, I didn’t have a parent breathing down my neck and telling me to get anything done.
I learned that I get things done better when I have a fast-approaching deadline and limited time to work in. I mean, really, when you’ve got hours of free time in your schedule, whose first thought is to do that boring Spanish assignment? No es mio.
4. I’m A Control Freak
One of the products of this procrastination problem of mine was a hastily written story for my Intro to Fiction Writing class, which I brought in and promptly had dissected by 15 other students, who told me my narrator was controlling, manipulative, and delusional. It wasn’t until after this class that I realized how much of myself had been in my writing for that day, and it was strange to sit in a class and listen to so many people dissect my personality through a story I’d written.
5. I Am Not Who I Was
At the beginning of my freshman year, I was vastly different from the person I am now. In fact, aside from a few basic habits, I’m nothing like who I was. What I once thought I was passionate about means very little to me, and things I never had an interest in before are now the things I occupy all my time with. For a while, this terrified me, but now that we’re inching closer to the next school year, I’m less frightened of all the changes I’ve experienced, and I look forward to getting to know myself better.
