Before I started college, I always dreamed it would be fun all the time. Little did I know, living on my own without parents in the so-called "adult" world is harder than I ever imagined it to be. You would think college means non-stop parties and staying up all night with friends because you don't have parents to tell you otherwise. That was the case for the first week or two of college. After that the college experience got real. I got busy. I got tired. I became broke. My dream of a carefree independent life came spiraling down as I faced the reality that is now my life. I am a college student, and no, it's not as glamorous as it appears to be.
Expectation: Party all night. Reality: Study all night. Don't get me wrong, I love college and living on my own, but it comes with many responsibilities. Instead of staying out all night with friends and going to crazy parties, I spend the majority of my all-nighters studying and working on homework. Classes aren't like High School anymore. You actually have to put an effort into it now to pass your classes. Surprising, isn't it? Not only do you have piles of homework and studying to do every night- you actually have to attend classes to. Well, you don't HAVE to, but for the sake of your GPA, you should.Even though you would think it's easy to miss class since your parents will never find out and there's not an attendance policy in a lot of classes, when you skip, it only negatively affects you. Missing college classes is a nightmare and you pretty much need to go in order to pass the class, despite what you thought before. 
Expectation: Your favorite food- all the time. Reality: Food is expensive. I was excited to live on my own because I could buy my own groceries and eat whatever I wanted. It was an exciting moment for me. Well... It's not that exciting when you're paying for all those groceries by yourself and end up living off of nothing but cereal and pizza bites everyday since that's all your budget can cover. Even though you can eat whatever you want, it's not very affordable. Expectation:
Expectation: Money won't be a problem. Reality: Money will ruin your life. College is expensive. From groceries, to books, to tuition, to simply splurging on social activities, it adds up fast. You better be prepared to be a broke college student. Don't be fooled by the beliefs that college is carefree and someone will always help you out with money, because that's not always the case. You have to learn how to budget and be responsible with how much you spend. Don't go crazy spending money, even though it's hard, it will save your life.
Expectation: College students never sleep. Reality: College students always sleep. Expectation: College students always sleep. Reality: College students never sleep. It's funny, but the expectations and realities for sleeping of college students go both ways. There are some days where you will never get more than an hour of sleep. Other days you will sleep every given moment possible, and everyone will assume you fell off the face of the earth because you'd rather catch up on sleep than catch up with friends. I've had to learn to function on zero sleep, and how to catch up on many hours of missed sleep within the same week. Sleeping is weird, and whether you've heard that college students always sleep or that they don't, it's true.
Expectation: No pressure from anyone to do anything. Reality: Pressure from everyone to do everything. I came up to college thinking that being on my own meant nobody to pester me about what I needed to do or what direction I was going in my life. I've come to learn that a lot of people I meet expect me to know what I'm doing and expect me to have my life together, when I'm far from both of those things. College is for finding out who you are and what you want to do, and there's nobody that can pressure you into doing what you want, you have to find it yourself. Sometimes your professors, counselors, roommates, and family members will put a lot of pressure on you, even though you thought they wouldn't.
Even though college isn't always what it appears to be, it can be whatever experience you make of it. Have a good attitude, make new friends, study hard, work hard, and sleep a lot. Find a balance between every aspect of your life. Make schedules and budgets and accept the reality even though it can be hard at times. Even though college may not be as glamorous as it appears, don't worry about it. You'll find out how to manage the stress, the money, the sleep, and the responsibilities. College is supposed to be the best years of someone's life so hang in there because you can do it!
