As a sophomore who just recently moved into an on-campus apartment, I can't help but notice the drastic differences in my living arrangements compared to last year. I lived with five other girls in a tiny little suite. There were three rooms for each of us, a bathroom, and a common room. First of all, move-in day was a total disaster. I was moving in with about a thousand other freshmen all at the same time. There was traffic, a hurried rush to unpack the car, and a long walk up the giant hill to the freshmen building. Inside, we had very little room for storage, and generally it was a very cramped living environment, very different from the movie versions of what your freshmen dorm is supposed to look like (seriously, look at the dorms in "Pitch Perfect" or any other college movie! No one has that much space! It's all lies!). I ended up loving my dorm and the girls I roomed with, but there's no denying it was very small and cramped.
However, this year, upperclassmen were allowed to move in on the assigned dates of their choosing and at any time until 10 p.m. I came with my parents, two cars full of stuff, and, if I could be honest, a bad attitude about how this day was going to go. To my very pleasant surprise, however, my apartment was enormous and spacious. My room had more space than I knew what to do with. I unpacked peacefully and almost stress free and was done in only of a couple of hours. Also, did I mention I have a kitchen? That night, my roommate Sara made us all Udon from scratch. I felt as if I never left home, or as if I was some cool twenty-something from "Friends," who had her life together. I also killed about three wasps and washed some dishes, so I really felt like a mature adult. Very easily, I recognized this apartment as my new "home," and it really had comforting vibes to it.
Ultimately, my worst-case-scenario-thinking got the best of me again. As you progress through college, your living accommodations really do become much better. My tip to any freshmen would be to enjoy your freshman year and be excited for the years to come; you soon will feel so comfortable and you won't feel as lost as you might now. Now, hopefully for me, I'll be able to say the same things about my classes when they start!
