1. The food at the cafeteria (commons, dining hall, chow hall, etc.) will cause death for the first two to three weeks of college.
If you have friends already in college, then you might find this out from them before you have to deal with it, but let me just start by warning you that you cannot and will not avoid this. No Pepto-Bismol or Tums can save you from the havoc the commons food will wreak on your body. You can't eat healthy and avoid it. It has been tried and it doesn’t work. We think it's partly stress and partly getting accustomed to new food, but either way you better mentally prepare yourself to use a public restroom every day.
2. You will get distracted… a lot.
Whether you go to a small school or a big school, there is always something to do. I don't mean go to parties every night and "turn up." I mean there is always Netflix, there is always another person awake, and there is almost always some sort of event or activity meeting to go to. All these things are very fun but if you don't watch yourself they can add up and turn into giant distractions that can cause you to never get anything done.
3. You run out of food and money faster than you would think.
Seriously do you know how much deodorant costs? How about a box of cereal and a half gallon of milk? And don't even get me started on flex dollars. It’s really easy to just swipe that student ID and buy a smoothie every once in a while. It's not a bad thing to treat yourself with but it will add up quickly. Food also runs out a lot faster when you stress eat.
4. Laundry does in fact suck.
I'm not talking about the act of doing the laundry. That isn't too bad. Lucky for me, I already knew how to do laundry. But I have seen several college students who don't know how to even start a load of laundry. The bad part is that the washers smell like mildew and they never seem to rinse out your soap, but this is with any “laundromat” on or off campus. People wash clothes and will leave them in there for hours. You never really know whether you should move them into the empty dryer or not. My word of advice is to do laundry when you have time but shoot for middle of the day when others might have classes or do it late on random nights when you don't have an 8 AM class the next day.
5. You will miss home in your own way.
It won't happen immediately for some. It might happen before even getting to college for others. You might start randomly crying sometimes because you miss home, or it might just be little pains when you remember memories from home. No matter what it is like for you, you will experience it. It doesn't matter if you "hate [insert home town] and couldn't wait to leave," you WILL miss home at least a little bit.
6. You will get overwhelmed.
I say this because I don't want anyone feeling ashamed if it happens to them. Yes, it is just the first month and things will end up getting harder, but it's still considerably hard right now. You are balancing school and trying to get accustomed to a new environment. Everything is new and you might not have your mom, your dad, or your childhood best friend to vent to like you used to in high school. Stress eating can and will happen; which will lead to the freshman fifteen (which is definitely a thing, especially when you eat pizza as much as some of us do).
7. Nothing tastes better than 2 a.m. ramen as a reward after studying.
It doesn't have to even be ramen. It can be that left over food from lunch, a taco bell run, or just a handful (or a whole bag) of chips. Nothing tastes better than late night food as a reward for working your butt off on homework and studying.
8. You will try new things.
It might be trying ramen for the first time, it might be going to your first party. Whatever it may be though just broaden your horizons. Go enjoy yourself and understand that you're not at home anymore. You're probably not around your same group of people so you now have a multitude of people who like so many different things that you can also try. For me this meant trying sriracha in my ramen (which is a wonderful choice that I strongly suggest).
9. You will have issues with your roommate, but it will be okay.
It doesn't matter if they are a stranger or your high school best friend, you are living with a completely new person. Not only will you find out what makes you annoyed about them but you will also probably find out a lot about yourself. I have found that I am apparently the mom friend. Understand that when you have issues, it will be okay. Take a step back, take a breath, and honestly ask yourself if this is your stress causing you to be irritable or if it's a legitimate reason to be upset with them. Never forget to communicate with them about what bothers you though.
10. You will have some of the best times of your life.
I have realized that most of what I have been saying seems very negative but in all honesty college is a wonderful thing. You will meet some of your lifelong friends and you will have an endless supply of memories whether it is the inside jokes and nicknames you have or the impulse buying sprees. College causes you to get out of your comfort zone no matter how outgoing you are. It causes you to learn more about yourself than you would ever think.
