The bittersweet moment that you've been thinking about all summer is almost here. Soon, your family's jam-packed SUV will roll up to the curb of the dorm you'll be living in for the next 9 months. Emotional moms will pass your car window trying to hide the tears they’re wiping from their eyes. Freshman boys will strut by in packs wearing their college t-shirts from the university bookstore and beaten up Sperrys. And there you’ll be, staring up at your new home thinking what the hell am I doing. Believe me, because that was me too.
You’re going to move into your room and try to make it as somewhat homey as you possibly can (of course with a little inspiration from Pinterest) with your new roommate (AKA the stranger that you'll be sharing a shoe box with for the next year). No matter how hard she tries not to, your mom is going to cry as she gives you a hug goodbye and no matter how hard you try not to, just face it - you're going to cry too. And that's it, you're on your own.
The first few weeks you will awkwardly try and blend into the crowd anywhere and everywhere you go. You'll pretend to enjoy to cheap beer as your new shoes stick to the floors of beaten down frat houses. You'll act like you know where you're going as you wander into your first lecture hall and find a seat all the way in the back. After a long first few days and nights, you’ll lay down in your twin XL bed and wish that you could just be laying in your bed, the one you’re used to falling asleep in, at home. But this is your home now, so time to make the best of it.
But trust me, college isn't all about awkward moments and learning to fit in all over again. Sooner or later the forced conversations with the girl you sit next to in class turn into stuffing your faces between classes in the dining center together. Your floormates become your go-to's for funny stories about your nights out. Your roommate becomes your person and when the two of you aren't stealing each other's clothes you're binge watching every Netflix series you can possibly find together. Things aren't so bad after all. Maybe you even choose to go through recruitment and get welcomed into a house with hundreds of new sisters.
This strange new place that you once felt like in awkward freshman in is now your home away from home and you can’t picture your life without it. Welcome to a world where it’s 100% acceptable to wear an extra-large t-shirt to class with no makeup and have your hair thrown up in a messy bun. When you can’t find something to wear, you walk down the hall and raid your friend's closets. When you’re hungry at 3 am, Jimmy Johns is just one call away. Where easy mac and ramen noodles become daily meals and dry shampoo is an everyday essential. All the old songs you grew up listening to are now your favorite throwbacks that the college bars play. Before you know it, you’re going to be having the time of your life and you won’t want your freshman year of college to come to an end, but sadly, it will.
You’ll find yourself emotional over moving out of the old dorm you were nervous to step foot into on move in day. You’ll get back home and miss sharing a shoe box with your roommate and having someone to vent to and something to do 24/7. You’ll miss living down the floor from all of your best friends. You’ll miss never having a dull moment and having somewhere to go and look forward to every night.
Although you’ll never take your mom’s home cooked meals and clean bathrooms for granted again, you’re going to miss your freshman year when it’s gone. So stick out those awkward first few weeks, even if at times it feels like you made the wrong decision sending yourself away to school, because soon enough they will turn into the best 4 years of your life and they’ll fly by so much faster than you think.
