Starting college is a crazy, wonderful, new experience. Like everything in life, there are expectations we create in our minds. It only takes a snap of the fingers to wake us up from this dream and hurl us into reality.
Expectation: You are going to pack everything up all neat and tidy and be all organized.
Reality: As time goes on, and you procrastinate a tad too much, you end up just throwing everything into your suitcases. Once you actually get to college and settle into your dorm, you remember everything you FORGOT to pack! This leads to frantic Walmart runs.
Decorating
Expectation: Your dorm is going to look like the ones on Pinterest.
Reality: You make countless DIY crafts, string up photos of your friends and you, and (try to) color coordinate everything; but your dorm room never comes out looking like those too good to be true dorms on Pinterest. But that's okay, because yours is unique... And it's your new home away from home.
The Food
Expectation: Does anyone really ever have high expectations for college campus food? My thoughts were, "There are going to be so many options!" (so semi-positive, I guess).
Reality: There are a lot of options, but none of them are particularly healthy. A few months ago, I became vegetarian; so, I am very thankful for the delicious salad bar they offer during lunch and dinner and the wide variety of fruit during the morning hours.
Your Roommate
Expectation: Y'all are going to agree on everything and be best friends!
Reality: This is my one expectation that ended up being the most accurate. I decided to go with a random roommate, and I am so grateful that everything has worked out so perfectly. It seems like we've known each other forever, and we have very similar personalities.
Orientation
Expectation: This is the time you will meet so many new, amazing people and learn about all the wonderful ways to get involved on campus.
Reality: You do get to meet so many people (half of them whose names you can't remember) and the meetings you go to to learn about all the opportunities are very informative. It's informative to the point where it becomes a bunch of jumbled information in your head, and there is only one thing you can think of: sleep.
At Centre, you're put into groups of other first years with an Orientation Leader, OL, who you spend orientation week with. We started out by playing ice breaker games such as this weird dance game that helps you learn other people's names. Then we attempted to do the human knot game, which by the way, can get really awkward really fast. Our group must be challenged, because we ended up with two separate circles after untying the knot. We ended the week with a fabulous time doing service work and delving into Danville!
Saying Goodbye
Expectation: You're in college now; you're not going to cry.
Reality: You ball like a baby. It's hard to say goodbye especially to loved ones. You feel lonely even though you're surrounded by all these new people. The cliche saying, "It gets better," holds true to the whole college situation also. The loneliness disappears and you find yourself loving every moment.
