Going away to college is the experience of a lifetime for any young teen. You begin to engage in new social experiments, pull countless all nighters studying, go out more than two days a week, and of course living on your own for the first time.
At Eastern Illinois University, each incoming freshman is required to live in the dorms for their first year and then they have the freedom of living in a multitude of off campus housing. Moving in to your first place is a learning experience to say the least. Whether you are living by yourself or with seven roommates, each day brings on something new.
It all starts out with the realization that you are about to start paying bills for the first time. Electricity, water, and if you're lucky enough, cable are all expenses that require monthly payments. This doesnt take too long to get use to, but this is just the beginning. Unless you decided that the dining hall food was "top of the line" and worth every penny, you will need to grocery shop from here on out. It takes countless attempts to finally have a routine list of cheap and affordable items that last for some time, while also satisfying your college hunger.
Once the basics are covered, you still have to balance a lot of the other common student tasks; schoolwork, having a job, working out and going out with friends. The effort we exert into each of these areas, helps shape us into the people we are after we graduate. The college lifestyle is a plethora of ups and downs, each experience making a significant impact on us.
