The period between graduating high school and entering college is full of anticipation and excitement. The prospect of a new life, with new friends and experiences makes the wait for move-in-day feel even longer than it is. With the summer wait period comes the opportunity for expectations to grow. The prospect of meeting a potential amazing group of girlfriends, getting really good grades, or meeting the love of your life keeps expectations high for your first college semester. However, it is when not all your expectations come through that it is extremely hard for new college students to cope.
When I entered my first semester of college, I had my expectations for the new life I was going to live floating over my head like a cumulonimbus cloud. I imagined instantly clicking with my roommates and becoming best friends. I thought I was going to be constantly busy hanging out with my new friends and going to class. I imagined day trips to the nearest beach and taking cute Instagram pictures for all my friends back home to envy. It was when my expectations fell through that I didn't know how to keep myself pieced together.
Instead of taking day trips to the beach or clicking with my roommates, I locked myself in my dorm room constantly crying over how much I missed my friends and family back home. I caught myself leaving class early because I couldn't stand being surrounded by so many faces I didn't know. Depression quickly creeped into my mind and at that point, I felt like a lost cause.
Since my parents were so far away, my mom suggested I seek help from my RA. My RA was a senior in college, preparing to apply to med school. She lived alone in our apartment style residence hall and when she wasn't at class, she was usually in her room studying. I envied her and her ability to time manage finishing her undergraduate studies and running our residence hall. I made an appointment with her and I looking back at that visit now, I could only imagine what my RA was thinking. I sat on her couch balling my eyes out about how my expectations for my college experience fell through and how bad I wanted to go home. I told her about how I felt so unorganized even with the mounds of free time I had. I expressed how it was that free time that scared me the most, because in that free time all I could think to do was cry and loom over how bad I wanted to go home.
My RA suggested I make a Google Calendar. I could imagine the person reading this did not think the solution to my looming depression and high angst was as simple as organizing a calendar online, but it was such organization that transformed a little part of my world. My RA sat next to me as I wiped my tear away and showed me her calendar and how she had every part of her day scheduled out with different colors and all types of notifications. I suddenly understood how she made it all work. When I made my own, all my free time was booked up and I had no time to cry. And to this day Google Calendar keeps me on top of my college game.
Why Google Calendar and not Apple's pre-installed calendar on my iPhone? Well first and foremost, unlike an application that you install on your computer, Google Calendar runs entirely in "the cloud," meaning it is stored on a server that you log in to. Therefore you can access your calendar from any device that has internet connection. When scheduling events, you can also schedule reminders to help you remember to do something. You can customize how and when that reminder is deliver, either by email or pop up notification. One of my favorite features is Google Calendar's location finder, so when you're scheduling your doctor's appointment you can easily look up the office and have the address ready with the scheduled appointment. When traveling to that appointment you just click the address and your designated navigation app will do the rest.
In conclusion, Google Calendar really transformed how I dealt with the rest of my first fall semester. I later transferred to a university closer to home and although my mind is in a more stable place, I use Google Calendar to keep myself on top of things. I like having my day planned out for me before I even started it and scheduling things in advance help me not forget plans or appointments. I reccomend you use Google Calendar, it helped me and I'm sure it will help you too.
