With freshman year coming to a close, you are no longer new to the whole college thing. If you are anything like me, there is probably no denying how relieved you are. Don't get me wrong: it has been a pretty solid year. However, there are some realities of freshman year that probably did not fall in line with your expectations. Due to the standards we hold for ourselves and the preconceived notions of university life portrayed by the media, I can almost guarantee that we have all found ourselves discouraged more often than we would have liked. While we have hopefully all grown as individuals and learned at least a little bit about ourselves as a result of being on our own for the first time, we have also had to cope with a few disappointments that we were not prepared for.
1. You will not meet Prince Charming.
Most of our parents probably met each other their freshman year of college back in the 1980,s and then got married shortly after they graduated. However, we are a different generation, and things do not work like that now. I am sure that you had sugarcoated visions of bringing home that special someone to Thanksgiving dinner next year, but the end of freshman year is most likely signaling that it is not going to happen. The fact of the matter is that you are on a college campus, and the “I'm single and fun" group mentality dominates every aspect of campus life.
Hang in there. There are people out there who share the same goals and interests as you, you'll probably just not meet them until your post-grad life. Try not to kiss too many frogs along the way.
2. Your roommates are not always your friends
No, you will not watch movies with your roommates and paint each other's nails on Friday nights. While this is a very strange, unjustified expectation of many freshmen coming into the year, the reality is that by the end of the year (or maybe even first semester), you will be long over your living situation. However, give your roommates a chance and hope that they give you a chance, too (remember that they also have to put up with you). Most likely, you will be surprised to find out how much you have in common.
If this does not work out, one thing that we can all learn from each other is the most important virtue of them all: patience. While this will probably not compensate for the tribulations we have all dealt with throughout the year when it comes to putting up with each other, at least it is something, right?
3. You will hate your classes.
Whether it is because you find them too challenging or just downright not challenging enough, you will hate your classes. As you study the history of geologic life for that historical geology final tomorrow, you will wonder what type of role a class like this could possibly play in your future as President of the United States or CEO of something-or-another. The truth is that classes like these have none. While it will never be clear to students why they are required to make progress toward their degrees, the fact of the matter is that such classes are and will always be a part of collegiate curriculums across the country. It is best to just accept this fact and try to take what you can out of the evolution of hominoids and Jurassic plant life.
4. You will never be getting eight hours of sleep at night.
In fact, you will be lucky if you hit five. Whether it is because of your roommate stumbling in at 5 A.M. on a Wednesday, the anxiety you feel about waking up in time for that 8 A.M. exam tomorrow, or maybe even the fact that you cannot breathe due to the terrible air quality in your freshman dormitory, you will not be able to get shut-eye, ever. Word of advice for all incoming freshmen next year: Make sure you load up on the Nyquil.
5. You will feel alone all of the time.
No matter what your plans are that night, or how many people you find yourself surrounded by at any given time of day, it will seem downright impossible to shake the suffocating feeling of loneliness which has infiltrated every area of your college life. Why this is I am not sure. Maybe it is a result of being on your own for the first time, or maybe it has something to do with the fact it is impossible to genuinely get to know anyone at a school like GW, where so many of us work so hard to maintain such superficial façades.
If you took your cues from movies and pop culture about what college is supposed to be like, you probably expected parties every night of the week and friends flanked by your sides at all times of the day. And while this is semi-true, if I am guessing correctly it does not compensate for the fact that all you really want to do is head home for the weekend and have a spa day with Mom.
6. You will start to avoid clubs at all costs.
I would bet that you are at the point in the year where you find yourself letting your work pile up all week, just so you have an excuse to not have to go out on Friday night. While at first, clubs will give off a glamorous aura to incoming freshmen who have not been previously exposed to this kind of “night-life," you will soon come to realize that Opera on a Thursday is nothing more than a bunch of 18-year-olds puking in the bathrooms and working extra hard to appear sophisticated. While this experience is great every once in a while, it will soon become clear to you (some of us later than others), that dancing to the same exact songs on repeat every week is actually a tedious task.
7. Everyone is extremely self-absorbed.
This is college, and everyone is busy, so when you are having what probably seems like the worst week of your life, do not expect anyone to notice. Yeah, your friends are great, but they also have their own stuff going on, and they cannot be expected (or persuaded) to put aside any of their obligations and provide a consistent source of comfort in the same way in which your Mom would do in high school. College is about growing up and learning to deal with issues on your own, so adjusting to the isolation that persists throughout your freshman year is a great place to start.
8. You will experience failure.
An overachiever in high school is not always going to be an overachiever in college. By the end of freshman year, some of us still have not accepted this fact. You will not ace every pop quiz that is thrown your way and score above the class average on every exam. You will probably even bomb your first internship interview. It may seem like the end of the world at the time, but take deep breaths--there will be plenty more midterms and internship opportunities over the next three years, as well as a lot more education waiting to be gained outside the walls of a classroom or executive office building.
With that being said, put your transcripts aside and do not apply to transfer just yet. Taking the advice of upperclassmen into account, it gets better. For now, I am choosing to let all the wonderful, spontaneous, unexpected things that have occurred this year overshadow any realities that I would definitely rather forget. I hope you do the same, and as freshman year comes to a close, let's be grateful for the opportunity that our college lives have afforded us. With a little luck, prayer, and positive thinking, sophomore year will the best year that we have lived through yet.
