Recently, I have been immersed in an entirely new lifestyle, in an entirely new place, with people that range from "I have my life together and will soon graduate with distinction" to "WOO! I'm a freshmen and have already gotten behind, but let's party!!!" Following my first week at Mizzou, this is "College through the alphabet":
A is for academics. They should always come first in school, even if some people don't act like it.
B is for busy. Your first week won't get you time to breathe, but embrace that and have fun!
C is for car. If you bring your car to school, people will automatically appreciate you and want to make your acquaintance.
D is for discovery. This is the last time in your "kid" life that you can really try anything you want, and learn new stuff in a designated environment.
E is for EVERYTHING. Aka, be careful what you do and say, and who you are with. Everything is easily heard through dorm walls. Promise.
F is for frat boys hanging around you, whether you're interested in that or not.
G is for GPA. Something you should not forget to take care of if you plan to attend grad school (or make it to next semester).
H is for halls. Residence halls, dining halls, academic halls... pretty much your physical new home.
I is for image. A lot of people go to college believing that they will reinvent themselves, but, typically, they fail at that just like they did when they declared "new year, new me!" last January.
J is for journalism. Check your campus news publications for things to do and places to go during your first weeks of school to learn a little more about your new home.
K is for kisses. Which, you should give your family, your significant other, and especially your pets before you leave for school.
L is for lacking sleep. It's a perpetual problem.
M is for the "Mizzou 22". That is my campus's version of the "freshmen 15". Check yo'self before you wreck yo'self.
N is for names. You will learn a lot of them in a very short period of time, so say a person's name back to them when they introduce themselves. It'll make remembering everyone easier.
O is for orientation. You will likely not ever see anyone from your summer orientation in real life ever again on campus. I don't make the rules, that just happens.
P is for parents. I love and miss my parents, so incredibly much. Don't forget to call them occasionally and let them know you're still alive.
Q is for quitting. As in, quitting bad habits. You're starting over in a new place, so break some bad habits; you'll develop new vices in their place anyways.
R is for roommate. An awesome (or not so awesome) person that you must learn to coexist with. Mine is the coolest.
S is for sorority recruitment, which I highly recommend to all my ladies, regardless of what "type" of girl you think you are.
T is for toilet paper. That stuff disappear way faster in a dorm than at home, and I still don't know why.
U is for under-bed storage. Learn it, love it, take that advice from me.
V is for variety. College involves sports, government associations, bands, academic associations, and Quiddich club. There is a wide variety of ways to be present on your campus, so explore them.
W is for whatever you can find to eat. College gets crazy very quickly, and sometimes there's a level of food desperation that has you eating popcorn and leftover Chinese takeout together.
X is for e(x)es that you still run into sometimes, and it's just as weird as it was in high school.
Y is for you. Within the first couple of days, you will inevitably grow and change as a person. You will be exposed to a lot of people from different backgrounds, and you will learn to be more of an adult than you anticipated.
Z is for Z-O-U. Aka what you yell after hearing a fellow student holler M-I-Z.
