It's a foggy, rainy Wednesday afternoon, and I've now finished my first week of college. It's really only my second day of class, but the experiences I've had in the days since I've moved in are just as worthy of discussion.
This is one of the first times I've had to sit--and think--in what seems like a while. It's unbelievable how many new people I've met, especially considering the vast amount of people I've still yet to meet. I guess that's just part of life at a large university: no matter how many people I talk to, there will always be someone out there who I don't know. It's refreshing to see new faces every day, while occasionally running into familiar ones. School is starting to feel like its own little city.
To almost every person I've talked to, I've compared college to Disneyland. Obviously, I'll soon find that life at BU is very different from a week spent at a theme park/resort (because you don't typically have to do homework there), but it's a somewhat similar feeling. When you live with your friends rather than your family, life begins to feel like an enormous social gathering, or a sleepover. I'm already starting to realize how necessary it will be to have friends as my safety net, to make this transition smoother.
I've never been faced with so much decision-making. With so much free will. Today I had to declare Wednesdays a day for chores, obligations, housekeeping, etc. I think a lot of incoming students will find that they have a lot more time on their hands than they expected, and it becomes very important to take advantage of that time, for the sake of fun, AND getting your act together. Since I no longer have anyone telling me to do the laundry, to clean my room, to finish that job application, I've learned to think to do it myself.
It's only been a week, and already I feel very thrust into this scary, independent lifestyle, where I'm often alone but rarely lonely, and where I'm realizing that the ability to "adult" was always in me. I know there are bound to be newer, scarier challenges in the weeks to come once I settle into a routine, but for now, I'm just trying to enjoy myself, whether I'm hanging out with a group, or doing laundry.