Starting college is scary; you are entering a new phase in your life where you are leaving home to go to a new place. Most people’s biggest fears surrounding the notion of starting freshmen year are making friends and living on their own. My biggest fear was a little different; I was scared about how I was going to manage being at a big university with a boot on my foot.

About three and a half weeks before I left for school, I tore the ligaments in my right foot and was put in a walking boot. Funny story how it happened actually- I got a little too into the camper v. counselor soccer game I was playing and tripped on the grass, and the rest is history.

For the most part, I never let the fact that I was injured and in a boot ruin my already made plans. I still went to work at the day camp I was employed at every day, with crutches and all. Five days after the injury, I was running around New York City and Brooklyn with friends as we went to Smorgasburg, a Brooklyn food market.

Fast forward from what I thought was a strenuous amount of activity on my foot to what would be exhausting my healing ligaments even more.

So, for any of you who are curious about how one would go about surviving at a large university with a foot injury, here is an inside scoop on just how I did it!

1. The Paratransit

On move in day, my mom and I went to the health center to find out if there were any services they could provide me with to get around campus. My university’s health center has a paratransit system setup to provide transportation to students who are unable to trek around the 1,335 acres that make up our campus. I was added to the paratransit list and was given instructions on how to sign up for my rides. Since then, everyday a private bus has picked me up and taken me to all of classes.It’s just like my own little chauffeur service. Just me, the bus driver, and an entire empty bus.

2. Comments

Everywhere I went, people made comments about the boot. “I feel bad for that girl, she is in a boot,” I would hear others say as I walked past them. “What happened to your foot,” others would ask me if we happened to be in a conversation. Everyone would talk about my foot. Some would even tell me how they feel so bad for me and how I am a trooper for going out with my friends all the time and still having a normal social life. The comments were never ending and my foot was constantly the topic of conversation.

3. Shopping

You wouldn’t think of this, but walking around stores and shopping was very difficult with the boot on my foot. On a trip to target with my friends during the first week of school, I had to use the motorized scooter that they have available for the elderly or handicap. While my friends walked around the store with the shopping cart, I slowly lagged along in my scooter, going at a turtle speech. At first it was funny and we got in a lot of laughs as I rolled around the store, but eventually got frustrating as I was going slower than my friends and couldn’t turn into the different aisles. I eventually ditched the scooter and walked around the rest of the store.

4. Visits to the Health Center

My first few weeks at college were filled with many visits to the health center. I went about two or three times to see different doctors to find out how my foot was healing, and ultimately was told to get an MRI and that I would need to start physical therapy in my school’s health center. I can now proudly say that I can easily recite the health center’s hours of operations better than the formulas that were on my math quiz earlier this week.

5. Inability to Workout

The “Freshmen 15” is real. When you are at school, you don't have your parents telling you to eat healthy every day and they aren’t there to make you home cooked meals. Eating at the dining hall can be overwhelming with all the options, causing freshman to gain weight. A big way to avoid the Freshman 15 is by working out. I, unfortunately, am not able to work out until a month and a half into my freshman year. I have to be more careful than my friends when it comes to eating healthy because I did not have a way of balancing out the junk food I could eat with an exercise regime.

6. Social Life

I never let my foot and the boot stop me from hanging out with my friends. I went to hang with friends in the boot, I went to a tailgate in the boot, I even went to frat parties in the boot. Though I was still continuing to live my social life, I wasn't able to walk as much as everyone else. Special shoutout to Uber for taking me everywhere when I couldn’t walk anymore, and Dad, if you are reading this, I am sorry for the large Uber bill. I think that since I have been here, I have become Uber’s biggest customer in College Park