College Is More Than the Cost of Your Textbooks

As I walked in there were beer pong tables sat up, a Slip N' Slide down the hallway and people making out in the corner. I thought to myself, "this is it, here's to the next four years". Wrong. Movies do a really terrible job at displaying what college is like. If you're watching Pitch Perfect or Project X and have hopes of experiencing that, you might want to hit up the Hollywood hotline and set up an audition because seriously, it's nothing like that at all.

I arrived on campus about an hour early first of all. I walked in the main building people were already in the coffee shop studying. I proceeded to freak out and ask myself if I was truly prepared for this. We all know the answer to this one sided question: no one's ever ready for college. No matter how many college credits you took in high school, no matter how many people you know or parties you've been to. College is just...Different.

I walked into my first class and immediately sat next to the only familiar face I saw. Minutes of silence went by and here comes our professor. He quickly hands out the syllabus and explains what the next few months will be like. By the end of the day I had heard the words "syllabus," "exams," and "study" about a thousand times. My stomach was in knots. I had never had to study before, at least not seriously. I just winged myself through high school and somehow got good grades. Again, I wasn't prepared for this.

I went to the bookstore to purchase my textbooks, the total came to be around $450. People were serious when they said you'd be broke.

People were quiet. The halls were so big with bigger people. I wasn't the oldest anymore, I was back to square one. A fresh meat, a fresh piece of meat in the jungle, just sitting here with nervous written all over my face.

As the week went on I met a few people, my classes started to chatter, my professors even threw in a few icebreakers. It got easier. I was still red in the face from walking across campus, but it wasn't from my nerves anymore. On the third day of school, I rode home with my sunroof open and sung my heart out. Life was good. All of the drama, all of the immature people, all of the noise. It was gone. Life was so good.

The fear of the unknown is the most common fear. People give up on trying new things and going to new places because of the unknown. A part of my heart still beats a little fast because the buildings are huge and I don't really know what's cool anymore. But as the days go by, I meet more people like myself, I meet myself even. I begin to find out more of what interests me, what doesn't. I spend most of my days alone and enjoy some quality me time. That's what college is actually about, or so I've been told. I think I am finally realizing that. It's about finding who you are and where you fit in, not doing things to make yourself fit in. That's what's cool, being yourself.

You're called a freshman for a reason, it's a fresh start and a fresh beginning. So here's to my next four years, here's to finding myself and laughing along the way, because life is so good in college.