The transition from high school to college is one of the biggest of our lives. From living in a new place, to having to meet all new people; change is hard and everything will seem new and unfamiliar at first. College is just the start of new beginnings, and a new life ahead of you.
As Drake once said, “Nothing was the same,” and he was right. When you leave your home, things are going to change, even if we don’t want them to. You’re going to have to change the way things were, and do things on your own now. It’s hard at first, but in the end, it will be worth new opportunities and endless memories. Don’t be afraid of change.
1. Your people
After leaving your home town of eighteen years, this is the first time you’re exposed to new people in a brand-new environment. This can be frightening at first, but this is where you begin to see that there are more people than the hundreds of kids you knew in high school, so embrace them! As our parents have told us, college is the place where you make your forever friends.
2. Your study habits.
In high school, you would go home and do work in your bed. In college, if you’re in your room, you’re sleeping. This is the first time a library is 10 feet away from you, so you’re able to make it there. Before you know it, 5 hours will have passed.
3. Your routines.
In college, there are no set times for classes or meals. You have to make time on your own to eat, sleep, workout, and get your school work done. There is no mom or dad around to tell you it’s dinner time, and certainly no bell to tell you it’s time for class, that’s something you have to figure out for yourself. There’s only going to be a routine if you make one.
4. Your presentation.
In high school, you cared about going to school with your hair looking presentable and not re-wearing the same outfit twice. In college, nobody cares and nobody will say anything to you. If you want to hop out of bed and go right to class, do it! The best outfit is a pair of workout clothes or sweats.
5. Your diet.
In college you have a lot of free time, and what’s better to do than eat when you’re bored? Nothing. You have to pay attention to what you are putting in your body, and when you are doing so. A result of this change is that you have to actually go to the gym and make the time to do so. Trust me, after a month you are going to miss mom’s home cooked meals.
6. Your caffeine habits.
Ten-page paper due tomorrow at 9 A.M.? Starbucks venti iced coffee here you come! There’s no other way to stay awake unless you put as much caffeine in your body as possible. If you didn’t drink coffee in high school, I assure you it will be your favorite thing to exist in college.
7. Your health.
"I don’t get sick ever.” HA. I assure you this will change. Communal bathrooms are just the start of your health’s downward slope. Soon, you’ll be able to walk to the infirmary in your sleep, get ready.
8. Your relationships with high school friends.
Going from spending 8 hours a day, 5 days a week with the same people for four years to only seeing them during holiday breaks, things will change. Close friends will remain close as long as you stay in touch, but the people you were just friendly with because you had to be, those are the ones that will stay in high school. Keep your friends close.
9. Your major.
When you were in high school, you had this vision of what you wanted to do with your future, then you actually got here. Yes, I have been here for one semester and have already changed my major, but it’s okay!!! You realize that your interests may change, or you just realize “oh no” this is HARD; not for me.
10. Your cleanliness.
You're lying if you say you didn’t have to FaceTime your mom when you were doing your laundry on your own for the first time. How much detergent is too much detergent? Living in a dorm with a roommate for the first time, you have to clean up after yourself, and this is new to all of us. You have to actually pick up a vacuum, and go to the store to purchase Clorox wipes…all on your own.
When you move away from the place you grew up in, it’s inevitable that things will change. College is just the start of the rest of our lives and the start of the many changes to come. Take it one step at a time, you got this.
