You started by looking for the college that had it all. The school that met all of your criteria, even if that criteria was somewhat misguided (helloooo No. 1 party school.) Eventually, you find the school that you think will make you shine and help you transform into a more knowledgeable, more fun, better prepared for the real world and all around better version of ourselves four years later.
After reaching a major milestone in your life — high school graduation — you live through summer in anticipation. You hopefully meet a few people at your freshman orientation, although they likely won’t be the people you stick with through the rest of your college career.
Finally, it’s move-in day. A series of awkward conversations between you and your roommate, and between your parents and theirs, are bound to happen as you get to know each other while shoving all of your belongings into the tiny space that is now your home. After your family leaves, you feel like you don’t know what to do with your life. You are finally free from your parents’ watchful eyes and can now, for the most part, do whatever you want.
With your new-found freedom, it is likely you will set out with your roommate and about 20 other people from your dorm in hopes of finding a party. You are now very obviously on the bottom of the totem pole, as everyone shouts “freshman!” and other derogatory phrases at you as your group walks by. Still, the excitement of it all trumps the rude statements, and eventually you will find a group of people happy to let you into their party and prove to you that you made the right choice in school by showing you a good time.
Suddenly, it’s the first day of school, and you’re nervous as you wait for your teacher to come into class. You quickly learn that the first week of classes is a joke, as the teacher will most likely not go far beyond introducing themselves, going over the syllabus and then letting you go. Over the next semester you realize you need to study a lot harder than you did in high school, but also that you can for the most part take classes that interest you, which makes it slightly better.
During your first few weeks you’ll likely join an organization that will shape you as a person for the next four years of school. Whether it be a Greek organization, a club that pertains to your major or a club that will help you participate in an activity you love, you’ll meet people with the same mindset who will likely become your best friends.
Everything is brand-new and fascinating. You feel so mature as you go into the one 18-and-over bar in town. When your parents call and ask, “How was school?” the question is no longer dreaded as it was during high school, as we now have exciting things to tell them. You make mistakes, gain amazing stories to tell and eventually learn from those mistakes after making them a few more times. Suddenly, freshman year is over, and it's time to move out and go home for the summer. While you’re sad to leave, you’re also so excited to go home and share your stories with your family and friends from home.
Sophomore year begins with a whole new set of anxiety. It’s likely you’ll be rooming with your best friend from last year, but you’re concerned that you didn’t keep in touch with enough people and that you won’t be as close to them as you want to be. Sophomore year is the year that true friendships are made. You likely won’t talk to the people you were friends with from your old dorm as much, because some of those friendships were based on proximity and not true values. The friendships that continue or are made in your sophomore year are the ones that will be long-lasting, for the rest of your college career and hopefully beyond that.
This year you get into the groove of your schoolwork, classes and campus. You know which dining hall is the best and don’t waste your time suffering at the one that doesn’t serve chicken tenders. You know if you are a morning person or afternoon person, and schedule our classes accordingly. You begin to thrive in the organizations you are already a part of and potentially take on new tasks that will help you grow as a person and will start to pump up your resume. Sophomore year is an exciting time of both familiarity and exciting new challenges. Once it's over, you leave knowing who you’ll be living with next year, and you can’t wait to return.
By junior year, you know your campus inside and out. Almost everything is familiar and, even if you haven’t done something, you know about it, and it's on your bucket list. Junior year is perfect because you are totally confident in yourself and your choices. You don’t make as many mistakes as you did in the previous two years, and also aren’t as close to the real world as you will be in the upcoming year. You live the year in denial, and instead of branching out, you stick with your same group of people and do your favorite things instead of the ones you have yet to try.
For many, there is one thing that sets junior year apart from the rest and lends to a new experience, and that is living in your first house or apartment. You’ll soon be wishing you had to deal with an R.A. and so-so dining hall food now that you have to deal with an impossible landlord and make all of your own food. It ends up being way better than the dorms though in that you have your own space and can throw parties. Woohoo! It feels like you’ve finally made it in the world.
It’s likely you’re taking some of your hardest classes junior year and are drinking your sorrows away more than ever, especially now that you have your own house and have turned 21.
Once junior year is over, you’ll either have a summer internship, spend your last summer at home working at your summer job or stay at school and take some summer classes (AKA party a lot.) No matter what, you’re suddenly aware that you only have one more school year left before graduation.
Now, the dreaded senior year is upon us. While we are happy that essays and tests will soon behind us, the late nights, friendships and familiarity we have taken for granted is what we will miss the most. As we prepare for the real world, we must make the most of the world we will soon be leaving behind. Go out when your friends invite you, try the few things you have yet to try, go to all of your school’s landmarks and embrace everything you possibly can during your last year. If you make the most of it, I promise that senior year will be your best yet.
