I want to start by saying that freshman year is a huge transition period for a lot of us. You're so overwhelmed by the process of taking everything you know and bringing it to a whole new environment, which can be scary. Being a freshman, I wasn't focused on the realities of the future years to come and didn't realize sophomore year would have a whole new list of things I had to get used to. Here's a compilation of things I had to get used to this year.

1) Not Living On Campus

Yeah, I know how excited you are to escape the dorm premise and live with your friends in a new place. I remember that feeling, too. I also remember realizing I no longer lived on campus and how different that was going to be. I can't just lazily throw on a clean T-shirt and walk 5 minutes to my class. Instead, I need to wake up at least an hour before my class to make it to campus, park and walk there in time.

2) Finding Parking isn't Easy

I remember years ago I genuinely thought people drove their cars everywhere on campus... HA. Little did I know, even finding a spot when you have class was going to be a ridiculous struggle every morning. Being proactive, my strategy was to sign up for 8 AM's so that I would be the first one on campus no matter what. Yes, this does mean waking up before the sun comes up... but honestly, I haven't had any issues finding a spot on campus. My roommate, who takes an 11 am, however, has had to come back home because she can't find a spot. It's a sad reality, my friends.

3) Living With Your Friends Could Be Detrimental

I hate to break the news about this one, but my own experiences with this has caused me to add this to the list. When you are in a dorm, you are usually chosen to be with one other person, you only have to make it a year with them and then you'll never see them again. When you move into an apartment with your friends, you might start to realize your friends have different living styles than you were expecting. Maybe your one friend is super clean, and yells every time the house is messy, or maybe your other friend blasts music every night at 3 am. Whatever the issue is, this will cause you to ~probably~ confront them, and the idea of fighting with your buddies isn't a great one. But this stuff does happen... seriously. People will be on different wavelengths than you.

4) Now, you HAVE To Buy Groceries

No more procrastinating buying food and then resulting in a walk to Chik-fila at 9 PM. This was a common theme my freshman year, relying on the Grid (a mini grocery store) on campus to satisfy my hunger cravings. Yes, technically, I could spontaneously drive to CVS from my apartment to get food but that takes much more commitment. It's time to suck it up and be an adult now, you HAVE to buy groceries for a place that you live in. Because who wants to have the munchies later and have nothing to eat?

5) Classes Are Harder

This could've been the first point I made because it's clear that once you are no longer a freshman, the classes become more specific and gradually, harder. They aren't hard to the point where I want to drop out, but they definitely require more thinking than my simple freshman classes.

6) Paying Rent

This one might be obvious but since you no longer live on campus, you are forced to pay 'rent'. Growing up in my shoes, I work consistently for my money and ability to pay my own rent. With this much higher fee to pay, I am forced to manage my school and work schedule to be able to have time for homework and study, but also work enough hours to pay rent and other costs. I miss the days of not paying a dime to have somewhere to live.

7) Be Grateful for the FSU Gym

Nothing beats my walks to the Leach and a quick workout after class my freshman year. However, now I don't get to do this as often. I'd have to go home from class, change, and then drive all the way back to campus. Most of us have a gym we can use through our apartment complex, which is what I do now, but it's definitely not the same atmosphere that the Leach has. Take advantage of that gym while you are in such close proximity to it, it has everything you could ever need.

Well, there I have put in words 7 things I've had to get used to my sophomore year of college. As my second year comes to a slow close, I can't wait to see what junior year has in store for me!