I’m not going to lie to you… so far my freshman year has not been all it was cracked up to be. Sure, I pose for an Instagram post and I’m certain to take a couple of snaps here and there that prove I still have a social life, but this whole college thing has not been the fun and games that I have been promised for the past 18 years.

For one thing, I am one of the seemingly few people who has not befriended the entire campus or even my floor for that matter. When you don’t find yourself connecting with the people you’re surrounded by it's easy to put up walls to prevent yourself from reaching out and finding your place on campus, and if you can relate in any way: I feel you dude. I participated in Welcome Week, I’ve tried out a variety of different clubs and met so many awesome people from different places but for some reason, I’m not having the same college experience that I see so many of my peers having. So why haven’t I been able to adjust to college the same way I see everyone else adjusting?

In an age where everything we are, from the clothes we wear to the people we are seen with, is broadcasted and inevitably judged online, so many people fall into the trap of comparing lives. Nobody stops to consider what is happening in someone else’s shoes, and I think this is where the problem lies. The more I think about it, the more I think us freshmen are all in the same boat. Sure, by the time the first semester draws to a close most people have adjusted to life on campus, but I want to know how. I refuse to believe I am one of the few freshmen homesick, starved for good food, and not drowning in stress but here I am and there they are. No. I think they have perfected the “fake it ‘til you make it” mentality and I, simply put, haven’t.

To each their own, and honestly props to each and every person thriving but if you’re like me and you are still just barely surviving on a social level know you aren’t alone. Remember why you’re here, and that your time will come. Until that day arrives, remember what you are supposed to do. Remind yourself you aren’t alone, and that school should be the most important thing on your mind anyway. One day you will find quality friends over everyone else who seems to have settled for quantity, and one day you too will thrive.

So here’s to the next 3 and a half years: may your GPA be just as successful as your social endeavors.