Before I dive into my collection of experiences, it's important to note that a lot of colleges have a brief orientation during the summer, and then have actual classes begin in the fall, but my college was different. We had a week-long orientation the second week of September, which was followed immediately by the beginning of the 10-week quarter. I think this unique setup definitely affected how my first quarter went, so take my experiences and lessons with a grain of salt.
1. Frat parties
Expectation:
Not much to say
Reality:
I had been to Hawaii, and the humidity there was nothing compared to the inside of this off-campus frat house. Seriously, I could barely breathe. I stuck close to the group I was in, most of whom I had met only mere hours ago since this was the first day of college/orientation. We had no idea where we were going, so we followed the sounds of dropping bases and the chorus of drunk college students. It was a safe bet.
In the brief five minutes that I stayed in the main party room I stepped/accidentally touched several sticky surfaces, accidentally bumped into countless sweaty strangers, and had the wonderful experience of unknown liquids being splashed onto my body.
Needless to say, there’s a reason why I only stayed five minutes. At least I had the inaugural-first-day-of-college experience I set out to have.
2. The roommate
Expectation:
I had no idea what to expect, before being in college myself I had been told countless stories of roommate situations. My sister went random and ended up meeting the friend version of the love of her life. They’re still roommates years later. On the other hand, one of my close friends who’s a year above me ended up getting the worst roommate possible, like comes-into-room-at-ungodly-hours-then-vomits-all-over-the-dorm-room horrible.
Reality:
Now usually I prefer to let Jesus take the wheel, but since I wanted a substance-free roommate I chose mine via the Northwestern-Class-of-2020-Admitted-Girls-Lookin’-for-a-Roommate facebook page (yes, this was a real thing). It was basically like online dating, except for college roommates.
I basically won the jackpot. I mean, of course, I thought my roommate sounded cool because I messaged her, but turns out we click and have a really fun time together…
Little did I know, our relationship started on a LIE. That’s right, see, I found out about a month into the quarter that she didn’t write the profile that made me want to message her, AND when I messaged her, the same friend of hers that wrote the profile responded to my message as her.
I never let her forget it. It’s a healthy relationship.
3. Classes
Expectation:
Going to Northwestern University for chemical engineering, I honest-to-God expected to have to drop out of engineering after 3 weeks. Not because I wouldn’t enjoy it, but because I struggle with math and sciences and tend to have to work really hard just to get sub-par grades. And that was in high school, so I couldn’t even imagine how it would go over in college.
Reality:
Somehow, I have lasted a quarter in chemical engineering (*knocks on wood*). Both grade-wise and enjoyment-wise, this quarter went fairly well for me. I certainly had to deal with getting grades much lower than high school, but when put in the perspective of grade-deflation in engineering, freshmen weed-out classes, and being at or below average at an above-average school, I was able to make my peace with it. As the saying goes…
C’s get degrees!
4. Social life
Expectation:
...too sad to share with all of you…
Reality:
