Looking at the anxious and ever-so-eager freshmen about to experience college, I find myself saying things like "When I was your age" or "I remember when..." This sense of wisdom has led me to ponder my own first year and the sophomore year that is quickly approaching. It is easy to reminisce with a newfound perspective about the ridiculous mistakes that I made and appreciate how much I have grown in that short time of independence. Some mistakes however are destined to repeat themselves -- for better or for worse.
1. Spending WAY too much money on food.
In my defense, you can only eat in the dining hall so many times. There's a limit to how long the body can survive on rubbery chicken and shoe string fries. And with deals like half priced apps starting at 9 P.M., what better way to celebrate suffering through your 7 P.M. exam? But the moment that I knew I was spending too much on food was when I had to scrape together dimes, not quarters (those were gone weeks before), but dimes, to tip the pizza guy (I'm so sorry, Dominos delivery man). At the end of the day, I know this is going to happen again. I will argue with myself that food is a necessity, and I need it to get through the day, and the next day, and the next day, and I'll end up spending all my money on food.
2. Trying to prepare for a test the weekend before.
Those four exams seem so spaced out when the syllabus is handed out. I thought I had all the time in the world to prepare for only four tests. I know now that if the exam is on a Monday, then that is not enough time. It is easy to get so caught up in what is happening that day that your careful study plan gets derailed. If I am being realistic with myself, I know that I will make this mistake again and push off studying until the last weekend, even though I swore that I wouldn't.
3. Spreading myself too thin.
I was one of those kids interested in trying every club and joining every organization and volunteering everywhere, so by the time the joining stage was over I was extremely overextended. I know that I probably won't sleep very much, but next year I will still join one too many clubs or sign up for one too many activities. Technically it's a mistake to spread myself too thin, but in hindsight it was all worth it. I wouldn't change the impossibly late hours, but I may narrow my commitments slightly.
4. Comparing myself to others.
It's difficult to be in an environment where everyone is working incredibly hard to do the best that they can. When my best wasn't good enough, I would look at those around me and compare everything. This was a serious mistake that I am trying to never repeat. I know that I am only responsible for what I do, and in the past year it has gotten easier to only look at my own work. There will definitely be slip-ups, but I am committed to compare and compete only with myself.
5. Trying to be friends with everyone.
This never works. We have been warned countless times that not everyone will like you, but that won't stop us from trying to forge a connection with every person that we meet. I definitely made this mistake freshman year, and it's hard to accept that friends come and go. I need to continue to make this mistake because otherwise I wouldn't have random friends I met on my flights home, or know strangers in the dorms across the hall from me. I plan on making this mistake again, but this time I know that 65 percent of the time it won't work out.
6. Letting distractions get the best of me.
Distractions definitely caused me some stress when exams rolled around, but for this mistake I'm not sorry at all. Some of my best memories came out of a silly distraction. I will always choose to get a slushy at 3 A.M. instead of focusing. I loved having a midnight vent session about how stupid the essay questions were. I can't imagine not throwing cards in the study room, and not bothering my neighbors until we were all equally distracted. These "distractions" brought me some of my best friends, and I can't wait for the distractions next year.
7. Netflix... Netflix... and more Netflix
This deserves its own category outside of distractions, because it's a real issue. I would tell myself that I deserved a break so one episode was fine. One episode quickly turned into a whole season of "The Office" followed by a "Michael Scott best quote" search. Eventually it was midnight, and I actually had to start that paper. Over the course of the year I have gotten better about minimizing Netflix time, but it's still going to be a daily mistake that I make.
Sometimes it's OK to not change your mistakes. The difference this year is that I know what I'm getting myself into, and I'm ready for the consequences of being overly tired and having no money. See you in a few weeks, college!
