In just a few short weeks, the impossible task of fitting 18 years of your life into the back of a car (or two) will finally be completed. You will hug your dog goodbye a dozen times and your friends a couple dozen more. You’ll say goodbye to the room you grew up in and repainted a few times as your taste changed as often as the weather. The day you’ve dreamed and dreamed about for your whole life is finally here: college move-in day.
I don’t care how tough you think you are, chances are you will cry. It might not be when you’re saying goodbye to your parents or right after they leave you in your white box of a dorm room. Your school will do a wonderful job of keeping your body busy and your mind even busier to avoid any homesickness. For me, I had my first realization that I was actually on my own in the dining hall of LVC about 3 days into orientation week. I had a small internal freak out, and then you continue on your day. That’s the most important thing. You have to keep going.
Every single one of the new students surrounding you on your first few days at campus will be having the same thoughts and feelings as you are. They will miss home. They will miss their beloved pet or the friends they’ve had only a 10 minute drive away for so many years. This is a good thing, because they understand where you are coming from and how you are feeling. Use these people as a source for support and return the favor for them.
Meeting new people isn’t always as easy for some as it is for others. For example, I often get very awkward, but not an endearing awkward, more like a painful-to-watch awkward. When you’re at school one of the best ways to meet new people is also one of the easiest things to do: just prop your door open. As other students are passing by they will say hi or pop in to see how you have your room set up to get cool ideas, and before you know it you have a new friend. Some of the best friends I’ve made at college have come from my freshman dorm building. Simple things like hanging out in the lounge of the building and going to your RA’s socials are easy ways to build relationships with people you’ll be seeing every day for the next nine months.
With that being said, sometimes your room mate or first best friend at college won’t be the one that sticks with you for the entirety of your college career. And that’s completely fine. Often times you will stick with these first people you meet because nobody wants to be alone for meals or in free time. These people will always be a friend or acquaintance, but don’t stress if you begin to drift apart or notice differences after a month or so. By this time you’ll be joining other clubs or finding friends from classes or your major that you will mesh better with.
College is a stressful, exciting, amazing experience and there is nothing like your freshman year, so live it up, make a ton of friends, and please for the love of all that is holy, get to that 8 am, because I promise you’ll regret missing it. New freedom comes with new responsibility. Have fun, but make smart choices, and most of all, good luck in your first year!
