My first semester of college came to a close at the University of Michigan Dearborn this week, and with it came more than enough lessons. The lessons learned reached way outside of simply how to solve trigonometric functions, and the importance behind rhetoric, however.
1. Moving away from home is hard.
This is a topic I've touched base on more than once, but it's one that still hasn't gotten too much easier. It sucks being away from home all the time. It sucks not having meals cooked by your mom, and it sucks being curled up in a ball trying not to cry because you're homesick. Eventually it gets better, but the first few months aren't easy. However, you're going to gain a whole new love for everyone and everything at home. In high school, if you were like me, you probably spent so much time with your close friends and family that you got sick of them every now and then. Now that's not the case. Going months at a time without seeing the people that mean the most to you, makes all of your relationships so much stronger than ever before.
2. Make sure you know what you're getting into in terms of roommates and living.
I HIGHLY suggest, not going in blind if given the choice when it comes to roommates. As a freshman, moving to Dearborn I didn't know anyone here or have anyone that planned on attending here, so I didn't have much of a choice. I'm stuck where I am until the end of the spring semester, but it's not ideal having roommates who eat all your food, get up at unGodly hours, and aren't used to cleaning up after themselves.
3. Get out there.
Getting involved is crucial in college. If you just wake up, go to class, and go sit in your room for the rest of the day, eventually you're going to go insane. Join groups that interest you, check out Greek Life on campus, and meet new people. In 15 weeks at U of M Dearborn, I've met people that I really don't know how I ever lived without.
4. Classes are hard.
If you're one of those people who just flew by everything all throughout high school, hold on to your seat because college is way different. I always did decent in high school without studying, but college has been a whole new world. I study for hours at a time now. It's a lot of work, but good grades are worth it.
5. Rate my Professor is out there for a reason...use it.
Rate my professor was a site created to give you an idea on each professor in terms of how they teach and what they're going to expect from you. I WISH I had known about this website before I chose my chemistry professor.
6. You're going to break down.
Stress is inevitable. Especially during finals week and especially when you're taking tough classes such as chemistry. It's okay to struggle, and it's okay to turn your laptop off and just cry. I've been in that position more than a couple times this semester, but I made it.
7. Call your mom.
I talk to my mother every day, sometimes more than once a day, even if it's just to cry in her ear about everything that I feel is going wrong. She calms me down, and says what I need to hear. It's important to have someone like that in a time when you're facing so many new obstacles.
8. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee.
No amount is too much. Coffee is going to be your savior time and time again. Personally, it's the only reason I survived finals and every 8 am chemistry lab. I was never much of a coffee drinker in high school, but as a freshman in college, even Starbucks' "venti" with double and triple shots of expresso didn't seem like enough.
9. No one is here to judge you.
We're all new to this "adulting" thing, and we're all facing the struggles that come with it. In high school, life was at times a contest of who drove the nicest car, who was the best athlete, who wore the nicest clothes. Now everyone is here for one thing, an education in order to achieve a degree. No one cares if you go to class looking like a grub, if you have ten tattoos, or if you wear a hat in class. The "You do you," motto takes full effect in college, and it's great.
10. They lied when they said high school was going to be the best four years of your life.
High school was full of ups and downs. College is the same, but college is ten times better than high school ever was. You're granted freedom while learning how to be independent. You're studying topics that actually interest you instead of just what the state requires every high school teach, and you're meeting people that are forever going to change your life and mold you into the person that you're supposed to be. College is a great time, and I can't wait to see where next semester takes me.
