As I walk around Target looking at all of the things I would love to decorate my apartment with but really shouldn't spend my money on, I go back to a much easier time in my life. A time when I had graduation party money and just a small room to fill. A time when I didn't need to buy my own groceries but looked forward to that meal plan and those swipes I would survive off. Dorm life, the easiest time of my life.
As a senior in college there are a lot of cool things going on in my life. (Both cool and frightening). There's the fact that I'm old enough to go to the bars now. I have officially graduated from Brewhouse in Dowtown Kent and can refer that hole in the wall as my old stomping grounds. There's the fact that I wasn't kicked out of my living space for the summer like I was the resident halls and could actually live in KSA the past few months. But as I laugh, cry, and cringe at the thought of being done with college in May and having to do ya know, real people things in a year, I would do just about anything to click my red heels (I do in fact own a pair, sparkles not included) and be taken home to my freshman year dorm on the second floor of Manchester. So incoming freshman, here are some DOs and DON'Ts as you prepare to head into the best four years of your life.
You DO NOT need those 7 storage units you are about to buy. I promise you one will be just fine. You don't have room for them all and you really don't need them all. Maybe you can bring two, no more than two.
DO SHARE the wealth. There's a very high chance you will have extra meal plan money to spare... and you're in luck! Everywhere you look there is a friendly upperclassmen who is poor and dying of hunger. Just one meal swipe a week can save someone in need.
You're going to be so pumped to wear a lanyard, DON'T. If you were to ask any upperclassmen what not to do as a freshman, this would be it. You are asking for it if you're sporting one around campus.
Contrary to popular belief, there are other ways to get to class other than the esplanade. DO find the short cuts, you'll save so much time.
DO NOT GET RUN OVER!!!! Watch out for the skateboarders and bikers, and by bikers I mean cyclists. They stop for no one.
DO invest in rain boots and a bubble umbrella. Because the umbrella you have now has no chance against the Kent State wind tunnel. On the topic of weather, winter will be here before we know it. So I also suggest a coat that covers your butt. You can thank me later.
DO NOT switch seats in a class the last few weeks. Pick a seat during syllabus week and stay there. You will anger every single person in your class if you throw off the unofficial seating chart. Don't be that person.
DO remember you are not alone. If you're feeling homesick or having a hard time adjusting, literally every other freshman is experiencing college for the first time, too. There are so many people who understand. Hang in there!
You're going to be so anxious to go out and go to your first fraternity party! Great, good for you! DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT walk to that house party with everyone on your floor. You are a huge moving target and you will be laughed at. That's just how it is.
And speaking of these parties, there is a 99% chance you will not find your future spouse on a Thursday night. DO NOT try to fall in love on University. What's University you ask? You'll learn.
