Making the transition between high school and college can be rough. We are overwhelmed with a newfound freedom and independence (especially if you move away for school like me) and it's natural to want to test the waters! We have to decide for ourselves what to eat, what to wear (which is a battle itself because who has time to do laundry?), when to go to bed, when to do homework, when to wake up, etc. Life gets crazy!
Of course, going into freshman year is like a fresh new start and we all want it to be perfect. But, in reality, we tend to fall short whether it be due to laziness, stress, exhaustion or the all too real Spring Semester-itis. Let's not kid ourselves. Here are seven lies college freshmen tell themselves at the beginning of the year.
1. I'm never going to procrastinate on homework.
Ok,
2. I am going to eat healthily and work out every day.
Yes, there will be good weeks where you get to the gym every day and eat nothing but salad and fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But there will also be days where you sit down with your plate in the dining hall, look down and realize that three out of the four foods on your plate are potatoes of various forms and everything is the same color. It's ok, it happens to the best of us. This leads us to...
3. I will never go on a late night food run.
4. I will never skip class.
Now, some people actually go to every single class. That's great! If you're that person, kudos to you. Please teach the rest of us how to be that dedicated at 8 AM. Yes, we pay a lot of money to sit through those lectures, and it's absolutely terrible that we skip because we can't get out of bed or need to finish a paper or any other number of excuses. It happens, we try to avoid it, just don't miss a test day.
5. I promise to stay in touch with friends from high school.
I know we promised to call and text and stay BFFL's or whatever, but ya know what? Life happens. We go off to college, get busy, and find new friends. That doesn't mean all memory of last summer's shenanigans is gone forever. it's just life. This is what high school reunions are for.
6. I will not take naps during the day.
Ok, let's think about this for a second. Why would you not take a nap if you had the chance? You're already sleep deprived, you gotta take what you can get! In my book, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a little snooze at 11 AM. Pre-lunch nap...that's a thing right?
7. I will not binge watch Netflix until 2 a.m.
I will be the first to admit that my laptop and I spend way too much time together. I respect those who get through entire weeks without catching up on their favorite show (or devouring an entire series in one sitting). As mentally unstimulating as it is, it's great to get that break for an hour at night...until that hour turns into four hours and you have an 8 a.m. the next day.
Press on, my freshmen friends. Set high expectations for yourselves and aim to exceed them. Don't kid yourself, though, sometimes you just need to lay in bed all day with a chocolate shake and a Netflix marathon. Call it a rest day, skip day, mental-and-emotional-wellness day, whatever you want. Everything in moderation.
