It’s move in day, and you are ready to dive head first into the college life. No parents, an unlimited meal plan and a Starbucks on campus. What could go wrong?
Plus, your courses sound so interesting and you cannot wait to join clubs while meeting new people. You decorate your dorm with posters, tapestries and lights, and your small space feels like home. The welcome weekend activities were very fun and the food was delicious. Everyone seems so nice.
You are sitting on your bed looking over the syllabus that was posted online to get ahead before your class starts. You think that with careful planning, you can fit anything into your schedule.
It is finally the day you were waiting for, the first day of classes. You walk into your first class and look around. Everyone seems to have the same go-getter attitude as you. The thought, “Oh I do not want to be mediocre here” crosses your mind.
If everyone has the same attitude as you, how can you stand out? The lecture is going well, but then you realize most of the students in your class are as intelligent as you or more. A sense of panic arises. You are used to being the top dog and receiving As in every class.
Each day, it seems as if you are getting more assignments, quizzes and assigned readings. You spend hours on the readings, take detailed notes on them and study the notes but still somehow get questions wrong on the pop quiz.
A sense of worry comes over you because school is difficult. High school seems like a piece of cake looking back to it. And to top it off, it is difficult to relieve your stress because you haven’t made any close friends yet and you are away from your family.
School seems like too much, and you spend a part of each day in a panic because you care so much about school that it is hurting you. Every day your schedule is packed and you cannot seem to find free time.
Well, coming from a fellow freshman, the first couple of weeks have been a wild ride. I am being challenged in every class I am taking and do not have a day where I am not in the library doing work. But the last couple of days, I realized that everything is going to turn out just fine.
By talking to upperclassmen, I learned that every freshman feels as if they are not going to do well in their classes. Their advice to me is to keep pushing and doing the work.
Once you find your groove, you will prevail. College is tough, but so are you. We all came to the schools we chose to be challenged so that we grow intellectually and spiritually as a person.
Do not compare yourself to other students because the truth is, we all have different stories and our goal during the next four years is to become the best version of OURSELVES that we can be, not the best version of someone else or society’s standards.
We might feel lost right now, but we will eventually find ourselves and blossom into the adults we were meant to be. So, if you are worrying over studies, take a deep breath, get an iced coffee and know that everything WILL work out and that you are stronger than you think you are.
Keep persevering, grow from your mishaps and get to know yourself because in the end, the only person you need to impress is yourself.
