My first semester college experience didn’t go how I expected it to go. It wasn’t as glamorous as all of the social media posts and it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

Moving four hours away to a completely different state was hard. I missed being home with my family for dinner every night. I missed laying on the couch with my dogs after a long day. I missed crazy adventures with my best friends.

I had forgotten how hard it was to make new friends. I had grown up in a small town with the same people for 12 years. Meeting new people was easy enough; I saw so many new faces every single day. The difficult part was finding someone who shared the same interests as I did. I wasn’t willing to change myself in order to fit in. Because of this, it took me longer to find people I wanted to hang around with.

College meant dealing with the real world like an actual adult. Turns out I wasn’t too great at budgeting my money, and as a result my funds were running dangerously low by the end of the semester. When my car battery died and I had to spend $200 on a new one, I realized that I should’ve set more money aside for emergencies, instead of blowing it all on random stuff.

Although it was weird, I adjusted to being so far away from my family. I love hearing about things going on in their lives back home through texts or phone calls, and they’re always sending me pictures of my dogs. I don’t think I’ll ever be completely used to living without them, but I’m starting to adjust.

Eventually, I met some friends that had a lot in common with me. We shared a lot of similar interests and hobbies, and we had some really fun times throughout the semester. They were the type of friends that were worth the wait.

I’m starting to understand how to “adult,” as people put it. I’m learning how to budget my money and I even have a job lined up for second semester.

My first semester experience wasn’t all good times. I went through some rough patches, and I struggled on certain days. But through it all, I matured and learned a lot about myself. I made some great friends that have been there for all of the bad days. I was taught life lessons that will help me survive future semesters. And if all of this can happen in just one semester, I can’t wait to see what the rest of college brings.