You have experienced your last first day of school, your last sports games, your last social club meetings and conventions, your last lunch at the cafeteria with your friends, your last day of class and many more lasts. You walked across the stage, threw your cap up in the air and celebrated the graduating class of 2016, the year you have idealized for four years. You earned that title. Now you are about to take off into an unknown world, one away from the environment you know all too well. You are about to head off on an unknown adventure.
The week after you receive your diploma is weird. “Now what?” is a question that is on your mind until you begin your next chapter. This last summer break is filled with excitement and anticipation. You got accepted to a college and have been receiving emails or brochures about freshman orientation or some type of welcome-week. You have registered for classes and ordered your books. You are a future bulldog, broncho, cougar, cowboy, boomer sooner or other proud mascot that might not even hold much meaning for you yet.
If you are relocating into a dorm, move-in day is crazy. Many unfamiliar faces, a new room with an undesignated place, several activities to participate in, a sappy family member and a lack of routine can be overwhelming. Eventually the drama dies down; the family hugs you goodbye, and you attempt to settle in.
It’s the first day of class. You either wake up early to be prepared, or because of excitement, you slept in because of exhaustion from the crazy past few days of settling into this new environment. Either way, you find the right building and sit down into your first college course as a freshman. You check your schedule to make sure you’re in the right place and look up at the professor. They pull out a syllabus, introduces themselves and attempt to break the ice. Eventually, your first day of class has ended. You make your way back to the dorm. You did it.
Midterms are over, and the first break rolls around. You head home to visit family or friends, share about your experiences and stuff yourself at Thanksgiving. The break comes to an end, and you have to return back to college life. Time passes by, and all of a sudden, finals are next week. Why would an institution that you are giving so much money to, treat you this way? Three group projects, four papers, five finals and numerous homework assignments are your life now, but still you choose to binge-watch "The Office" on Netflix and make 1 a.m. trips to Whataburger for honey butter chicken biscuits with your friends. That’s reasonable. After sleeping for maybe six hours during that whole week, you are done with your first semester in college! It's Christmas time!
After singing many songs, visiting friends and family, touring through Christmas-light displays, drinking too much hot chocolate and receiving gifts from Santa, you must return to your dorm. It’s hard to get back in the swing of things, but you do. “The next break is spring break," you keep telling yourself. You meet more people, form new memories and learn more about the wonderful world of adult life. Five weeks, four weeks, three weeks, two weeks and then one week, it's spring! You either go on a trip with friends, visit home or possibly work, but it is a break from college nonetheless.
16 more weeks, you will be done with your freshman year. You occasionally see posts from high school friends and can’t believe how the time has passed. You continue to study and encounter new experiences and lessons. These weeks drag by in anticipation for the summer. You are starting to get used to this new world and can’t believe the different person you were just 10 months ago. This life you are living now is one you couldn’t have ever dreamed.
It’s the last month. You may attend a formal event, a banquet of some kind or even a last gathering with your friends until you part ways for the summer. You prepare for finals to the best of your ability, binging Grey's Anatomy this time around to aid in your studies. You have enrolled for next semester or even summer classes. You are technically a sophomore now.
You have one more final. You bring your Scantron and pencil to your exam, fill in some rectangles and smile as you walk out of the classroom. You return to your dorm, pack up your belongings, check out and begin your journey home. You did it.
Nothing can fully prepare you for your first year of college. It will be challenging. This is a timeline I have created based off of my own experiences, as well as those of my friends, as college freshman. It will be a new world, the one you are stepping into. It’s a whirlwind of change after walking across that graduation stage, but it is an amazing experience. Remember, when you are at the end of this freshman timeline, how you react to your freshman year and to every great life change will mold you into the person you are destined to become.
Good luck, seniors! Put yourself out there, study hard, have fun and enjoy every moment! Time will only start to fly by faster and faster.
