1. The most obvious: You don't know anything about anyone.
While it is nice to start completely fresh, once you start meeting people you realize you truly have no idea what this person is like, aside from what’s in front of you. It’s a strange feeling at first to go in without any preconceived notions about someone. Usually you know everyone’s business—will I still like this person after knowing how they acted towards my friend? Is she as annoying in person? There’s nothing to go off of, only what’s in front of you and how that person acts towards you, which is insanely refreshing but, at the time time, if someone isn’t the kind of person you want in your life, you don’t know it until after the fact, or until something comes up.
2. There are more buildings you need to know than there are houses in your neighborhood.
I can’t speak for every school but if your school has an app that has a map feature where you can locate buildings, it usually tells you the longest route. Not kidding. Every time I went to a new building, after a couple weeks I learned that there were much faster short cuts. Every time I had a friend who lived in a different dorm, it took me months to place their actual dorm name to their general whereabouts (how I previously identified the) … Is that the one near the dining hall? Right. Got it.
3. The hilarious stories all your friends knew verbatim are completely new to your friends at school.
All freshmen just want to make friends. It’s comforting because it’s something you all have in common—there’s a very slim chance another freshman will scoff at you for not knowing where something is or not knowing about a school tradition. Because everyone wants to make friends, you try to tell your school acquaintances stuff that would maybe make them relate to you. Or perhaps, a hilarious story that happened in high school that you just have to share. I learned the hard way that most of those stories aren’t super funny after the fact. Another You-Had-To-Be-There-Kinda-Thing.
4. Not everything is right around the corner.
You can’t use Flanders Four Corners as a reference point when you go to school in New Hampshire. Or practically anywhere else, for that matter. I didn’t realize that some people come from cities/towns that are so big that there are parts they wouldn’t be able to guide you through without a GPS. I thought everyone knew knew their town like the back of their hand, cause I’d been through every road in my town millions of times. It’s something I took for granted.
5. The slang that was popular in your area doesn't exist here.
Okay, this might not necessarily be a “small town” thing but are we going to talk about the fact that “package stores” only “package stores” in Connecticut and I think maybe some parts of Massachusetts? I got some strange looks when I said that at school. Where did that even come from? Anyway, it’s super interesting to hear about the fads/slangs that are popular at different high schools. Also, the kinds of videos that went viral at different high schools I’ve never even seen before, and vice versa.
6. The "Freshman Fifteen" only happens if you let it because you walk 3 miles a day here.
I feel like for most people the Freshman Fifteen only really happens if you let it. For example, if you take advantage of all the greasy food options and plentiful desserts every night, and wash it down with hard alcohol, then yeah, you’ll probably put on some weight. But if your diet stays the same for the most part, and you don’t drink every weekend, it’s hard to put on more weight when you get more exercise in general without even going to the gym.
