As August transitions into September, millions of college freshman are making their very own transition and it is time that us, "wiser folk," offer our words of wisdom and advice. The most significant piece of advice that I can offer is to beware of social media when it comes to your first college experience.
It is important to remember that everything in your life and in your best friends' lives are changing. After your parents have posted the stereotypical photos of you sitting on your new bed and you have Insta'd the picture of you shining next to your brand new roommate and supposed new best friend, the excitement will wear off and the fear and anxiety will begin to creep into your mind and onto all of your social media apps and websites.
Every college freshman is eager to show off their amazing college experience complete with spontaneous late-night adventures and solo cups flying in the air. It is simply human nature to only display what is considered "good" on the outside, we do it with makeup, we do it with clothing, and most recently, we do it with our social media posts. We only portray what may be seen as interesting or intriguing to others. College freshman are perhaps some of the most guilty, splattering their Instagram with pictures of their new besties and filling their Snapchat stories with pounding music and dark frat house basements.
But it is in fact, what is not shared via social media that accurately depicts the college experience: spending hours in the library studying, walking to and from class wishing for a call from someone back home, eating lunch alone while continuing your latest Netflix binge, feeling homesick, or searching campus bulletin boards and websites for a work study job.
Social media becomes deceiving and may even enhance the overwhelming emotions that arrive with the adjustment to college and living away from home. It becomes difficult to see your hometown best friends with new faces. Social media even has the ability to create unrealistic expectations of college life, because once again, students are only posting what they imagine their peers and acquaintances will think is intriguing.
You may feel like the only college student in the universe who feels lonely or homesick. You may think you are the only freshman student who walked into the classroom. You may believe that everyone else is having an infinitely better time at college than you are. None of that is true. You need to recognize that there is much more to college than what your friends are choosing to post on Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. When you're wandering to the dining hall scrolling through Instagram or spending a Friday night in and you become overwhelmed by what is being posted on social media and it forces you to second guess yourself and your choices, take the time to acknowledge that not every moment is documented on social media. It is human instinct to only highlight our very best moments.
