Driving down from Connecticut to Delaware, I had a lot to think about, and a lot of anxiety building up inside me before my first day of college, a day I have been thinking about since I knew what college was. I learned about the college experience from older friends, parents, teachers, and movies; basically the thought of college circulated every aspect of my life the summer before it. However, some of the things about college that I was told were true before I attended the University of Delaware, turned out to be completely false from my experience.
First, remember when your teachers in high school would say, “When you are in college, your professors are not going to hold your hand. They will assign a test, then will never mention it again until the day it happens.” This scared the living daylights out of me, but turned out NOT to be true in any sense of the word, so thank you for giving me a pointless heart attack my junior year English teacher! I don’t think I can think of a class I took during my first two semesters where the teacher failed to mention a due date in class more than once. In fact, some of my professors would email us saying “Test Friday! Here’s what you need to know:” Why did our high school teachers lie to us? Absolutely absurd.
Second, the freshman 15? I actually experienced the freshman -2. Yes, it is inevitable that you are going to order that large Domino's pizza at two in the morning when you get home from a night out, but it does not happen every night. (Well, most nights). You also do so much walking on campus that I feel like it is nearly impossible to gain that much weight in the first year of college. You might be thinking that I go to the gym every day at school, so that’s why I didn’t get the curse of the 15. Actually, I am not even sure where the gym is located on campus, to be quite honest; I just know it’s an activity that people do that I simply do not take part in.
Lastly, the parties. There are literally dozens of options of nightlife at most colleges, Thursday through Saturday. In movies, you see these absolutely insane parties happening, with hundreds of people, an open bar, dance floor in the middle, and just about everything you would want a party to be. On the first night of college, I expected my first frat party to be exactly that. Was it? Not even close. Do not get my wrong, college parties are awesome, its just such a hit or miss. You are greeted by three or four frat boys at the door who think they are high-end body guards for having that job. You then walk down pitch black stairs, and most likely slip at the bottom from what I call “beer slime.” As you proceed into the party, it is so crowded that you cannot breathe, move, dance, or anything. It is fun for about 30 minutes, then you leave with your friends, taking the same journey up some of the most dangerous stairs you will ever encounter, and unavoidably ordering that life changing Dominoes once again. Believe me when I say, ordering greasy food at 3 am is something you can’t escape.
So next time someone tells you about how your first year of college will be like, they are probably lying to your face.
