1. Your Friends
Although you may think the friends you meet freshman year are going to be your best friends for the rest of your life, it’s likely not the case. I only know a small amount of people who are still BFF’s with their friends from freshman year, with this change usually happening during sophomore year. You’ll meet people in your halls, your classes, going out to parties and slowly you’ll all branch out. It’s not a big deal and it’s not sad. Besides getting a degree, college is all about branching out, doing new things, and meeting new people.
2. Your Study Habits
Did you study in high school? Probably not as much as you will in college. You’ll soon figure out how you learn well. Instead of picking the easy professors or classes like you did in High School, by senior year you’ll likely start picking classes based on your learning habits. If you find that you learn better with a certain professor, you’ll likely pick them over the easy A. You’ll figure out if you study better the night (or morning) before an exam, if you remember more with note cards, etc. You’ll have your studying schedule down perfectly by senior year.
3. Your Sleep Schedule
Your sleeping schedule, however, will be what’s lacking. Freshman year you might spend some extra time figuring out how much sleep you can get during the night, but by senior year you’ll be figuring out how much sleep you can get in between classes. It’s easy to come into college and think that you’ll get a full night’s sleep almost every night and only go out on the weekend. By senior year, you’ll probably be spontaneous and change your plans every five seconds.
4. Your Thoughts about the Future
Freshman year, you come into school wondering what you want to do with the rest of your life. Even if you have a major decided, you have time to change it. By senior year, you hopefully have selected a major and also have picked what you want to specifically work on in that major. It’s exciting to figure that out by senior year, but also very scary. By senior year you’ll be so excited to be in the real world, but you probably also won’t want to think about it much because it also gives you a heart attack. You’ll survive it though.
5. You
You’ll change immensely between your first year and your final year of college. You’ll realize the importance of family (whether it’s people at home or your school family). You’ll figure out what you want to do with your life, and you’ll probably be very passionate about it. You’ll make mistakes, lots of them, but you’ll get back up again every time. You’ll learn from those mistakes too. You’ll go through a lot, the good and the bad, but it will all change who you are. You’ll graduate as a completely different person from the one who was at orientation. You’ll be ready for the real world, and you’ll be great at it.
