At the end of my senior year in high school, I caught a very bad case of senioritis. During my time spent away from school, since clearly I had to stay home so as to not infect my fellow classmates, I spent a lot of time thinking about how college would be, and all the experiences I was so eager to have. Now, a junior in college, I can assure you that my expectations did not exceed the reality of college life -- well, at least some of them.      

Expectation: I am going to meet everyone in my dorm and hang out with all of them in the TV room.     

Reality: Your neighbors party every single night, which equals no sleep for you, and you used the TV once, maybe twice to watch a documentary for class. 

Expectation: So. Much. Free. Time.     

Reality: What is free time? 

Expectation: My roommate and I will do everything together, all the time, and be best friends for life.     

Reality: Whenever she doesn’t clean up her ramen after three days, you consider passive aggressive tactics and questioned why you wanted to live in a dorm.   

Expectation: Parties all the time, every night.     

Reality: Eating pizza and watching Netflix with your roommates until 3 a.m., but that’s okay because you all love pizza and Netflix, so who cares.      

Expectation: I’ll be BFFs with all 400 of my sorority sisters!

Reality: Who is that girl wearing my letters? Oh, wait, I think she’s a sophomore.      

Expectation: Finals week means sleep, Starbucks, library. Repeat.     

Reality: Finals week means sleep, Starbucks, junk food, Netflix, library. Repeat. 

Expectation: OMG, that nice girl I met behind me during rush week will totally still be friends with me even though we rushed different sororities. 

Reality: See’s girl on sidewalk; pretends to be in a very important group text. 

Expectation: I will schedule all my classes in the morning so I have the entire afternoon to do homework and other productive activities!     

Reality: 8:30 a.m. is like 5:30 a.m., in college time.     

Expectation: My dorm will look exactly like all the cute teen rooms I’ve been pinning on Pinterest for years.      

Reality: What is a dorm room other than a tiny room, crammed with strange old smelly furniture and too many monogrammed things to count.      

Expectation: I can skip class whenever I want, however I want, with whomever I want.     

Reality: Skips class, misses entire month's worth of notes.  

Expectation: So many cute outfits to wear, so little time.      

Reality: After the second week, you have completely given up on personal hygiene and developed a new genre of dressing known as homeless chic.   

Expectation: There will be so many mature, scholarly college bachelors to date. 

Reality: Why are the frat boys dressed like my grandma, but acting like my little brother?         

Expectation: PCB will be the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.

Reality: PCB is the most fun I never want to have, again.      

Expectation: College will be the best four years of outrageous parties, where you meet your best friends, spend an unbelievable amount of time in the library yet, somehow, you never want to leave.      

Reality: College is the best four years of outrageous parties, you end up meeting your best friends, you really do spend an unbelievable amount of time in the library yet, somehow, you never, ever want to leave.