College has just begun for many of us, and with that comes the stress of meeting new people, new classes, and tearful goodbyes to parents. And of course, the advice from tearful parents as well. One rule that my mom gave me, which she passed down from her mom, is to give it two weeks. Basically, it may seem like your life is a mess right now, but in two weeks it won’t be. You might get lost, locked out of your room, mess up your laundry or stay in your room too much, but within two weeks you’ll be fine.
In two weeks, you will know where most or all of your classes are. You will meet so many more people than just the first three you met in your residence hall. More things will make sense to you, and you’ll develop a routine that will help you live your life how you want to.
Of course, life always tends to get in the way of what we want to do. If we want to go hiking one weekend, we have to study for a test, or write a paper. If we want to go to a party we have to do our laundry, or we have to clean our room. You can’t always do everything you want to do, and that’s okay, because there will always be more opportunities to go out and do the things you want to.
Not everything will be perfect, it will just make more sense in two weeks. You’ll know how to get to the cafeteria and how to use your meal plan. You’ll know how to do your laundry (and to actually press start) and you’ll know the best time to use the showers and the best places to study. You’ll make more friends and you’ll go out and do things, even if it’s just grabbing a cold drink and sitting in the grass.
College, for many people, is a huge change. For a lot of new college students, this might be the first week they’ve been away from their parents, the first week they’ve had to do their own laundry, and the first week they’ve had to figure out how to feed themselves (the last being something I often forget to do entirely). It’s a time where people from all different states, and all different parts of the world come together, knowing nearly nobody, and have to figure out how to make friends and be social. At least for me, being social is a problem because I would rather stay in my room most of the time, but when I do actually get out and do something, I have a great time. For others, making friends is no big deal and it comes to them naturally.
As I think about the stress of making new friends and wondering if people will actually like me, I have to think back and remember the two weeks rule. Because I know that within two weeks, I will have made more friends, I will know where my classes are, and my life will be a little more organized. I know it won’t be perfect, and not all of it will be fun, but it will be okay. It will all eventually turn out okay, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.
