College is a cool place, and whether you believe it or not, you’re going to learn so much. Not just from an academic standpoint, but you’re going to learn things about life in general. You can’t get down during your second freshman semester because you made a B in your remedial math class, because honestly, there are most likely quite a few more B’s to come your way during the course of your college career. It only gets harder, but it will definitely get better! There are so many cool things that you get to experience in college, and when you graduate, you’re probably not going to be real sure where to go from there. No more half days because you only have one or two classes! It’s most likely a 9 to 5 job and a sink full of dirty dishes when you get home from there on out. Here are some things that you’ll learn after you’ve made it through your freshman year of college.
1. You’ll get real tired of 8am classes real quick.
Right after high school, you’re used to waking up and being at school by 7:05am, so you just go ahead and schedule that 8am class without thinking twice. “It’s good! I’ll get up and get my day started and I’ll be productive!” Ha, wrong! You’ll learn that very quickly. After two semesters of having to wake up at 7am after staying up until 2am doing homework, you’ll change your mind on that. Unless you’re a super early bird, settle for at least a 9:30 or 10am class to start your day.
2. You should probably go to class, whether your professor takes attendance or not.
Even if you're late, better late than never. Some professors are really strict on their attendance policy and others don’t care whether you show up or not. Regardless of what they say, go to class everyday. At this point, you’re an adult. You’re paying for these classes; you might as well go and at least attempt to pay attention. Some professors could care less whether they see your face or not because ultimately, you’re the one who is responsible for completing the assignments and passing the class. You’re better off if you just go on your own instead of depending on that flaky guy that sits next to you to email you his notes.
3. Dressing up for class? You mean sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt, right?
You’ll learn very quickly that dressing up in college isn’t a thing to most people. It’s funny, because when you’re walking through a college campus, you can usually tell the freshmen apart from everyone else. They’re dressed to a T, promptly walking to class. That’s going to go out the window after your freshman year, if it even lasts that long. No one cares what you look like in college. Odds are, you’re never going to see most of the people in your classes ever again, so who are you trying to impress?!
4. Breakfast on the go is actually a thing.
You just think you’re going to wake up in time to make a balanced breakfast. You won’t, trust me. Even if your first class doesn’t start until 11am, staying in that super comfortable position in bed under those warm covers will always outweigh cooking breakfast and risking getting popped in the face with burning hot bacon grease; and it’s perfectly OK.
5. Don’t feel bad if you don’t eat healthy and make it to the gym every single day.
Although you should really try to eat something besides Whataburger or potato chips with wine for dessert, it’s not always going to happen. Don’t feel bad when your eyes are crossed from staring at your history review on your computer for three hours and you just don’t have the energy to cook a healthy dinner. Go make yourself a PB&J. It won’t kill you. As for the gym, you should really try to make it a habit, but when you miss a day, don’t make yourself feel guilty. To make yourself feel better, tell yourself what your parents always say: school comes first!
6. Naps will be your best friend.
That’s pretty much all. They will, without a doubt. Before long, you’ll be calculating the time you have to snooze before you have to leave for your next class. “OK, it’s 1:34pm and my next class is at 2, if I go to sleep right now, I’ll have exactly eight minutes to sleep before I have to leave for my next class.” And, go!
7. Don’t spend too much time watching Netflix, prioritize.
This is a common mistake for most of us. First, you’re scrolling through your “because you watched 'Grey’s Anatomy'” category and next thing you know, it’s 2am and you’re on season three of "Scandal." Suddenly, you remember that you have an eight-page research paper due at 10am . . . which you haven’t even started. Prioritize. It’s so important to put your school work first, even when you don’t want to. I’m not even that great at it myself, but hey, I’m working on it. You’re paying ridiculous amounts of money for these classes, you might as well pass, right?
8. Enjoy yourself before the real world.
Yes, you’ve pretty much entered the real world, but you haven’t entered the real world, where work is five days a week, eight to ten hours a day. You still get to enjoy sleeping in a few days a week and staying up past 11pm. Go out, have fun, have sleepovers. Those opportunities will probably go away pretty quickly after you graduate.
9. There are cheaper alternatives to buying textbooks.
First of all, you’ll learn really quickly that you most likely won’t need every textbook that your prof tells you to get. They say to buy them but odds are, you’ll only need it for one paragraph total, if that. If you know you absolutely have to have it, rent it. Try Amazon or an off-campus bookstore for better prices. Your main campus bookstore always has the highest prices and when you buy them and try to sell them back, you’ll get about 14 percent of your money back. You’ll never use them again, rent them.
10. Relationships can wait.
Seriously. With college comes a busy schedule. You have to balance clubs and organizations, getting good grades, and so much more; things that are going to benefit you in the future, instead of a controlling or clingy significant other. If you’re involved, you won’t have much free time. You have so much to concentrate on during this time in your life; don’t waste it by stressing over the fact that your boyfriend or girlfriend hasn’t responded to your text message in a day or so.
11. Your classes will only get harder.
It’s the sad truth. Freshman year is the easiest year. It may be the no fun, boring, basic classes, but as you get further into your major, the classes will only get more in-depth and detailed. You’ll start having to do more projects and presentations. Not a small project that only takes about three hours total to do, but projects that take about 30 hours total work time. Not a two-minute presentation, but a 20-minute presentation, all by yourself, on a super random topic that you’ve never thought twice about. Oh, and a three page, double spaced, one inch margins, 12 point font paper? Forget it. Start to expect 10 pages at least, with a works cited page and a rough draft stamped by your school’s writing center from here on out.
12. Don't get offended when you have a sarcastic professor.
You’re not in high school anymore. Teachers don’t care if they offend you. Don’t take it personally! You’re going to meet so many different people with crazy different personalities, including your professors. Some will be the sweetest people you’ll ever meet, while others are the most sarcastic, rudest people you’ve ever come across.
13. Walking alone doesn't mean you don't have any friends.
In high school, if you aren’t walking down the hall with at least three other people, you’re automatically seen as a loner and someone who has no friends. Good news! In college, everyone walks alone. Your schedule doesn’t usually match up with a single person on campus; therefore, you’re on your own. Oh, and eating alone? Get used to it, it’s normal. And honestly, it becomes more of a relaxing time because you can just listen to music by yourself instead of listening to anyone else talk.
14. College isn’t always exciting.
When we view college as kids, we view it as party time and constant ongoing activities. That’s not reality. Yes, you’ll be busy a lot of the time, but when you do have a day to sleep in and watch your favorite show on Netflix all day because you’re actually, for once in your life, caught up on homework, you’re going to enjoy it quite a bit. You’ll quickly discover that days like that are much anticipated and that you don’t have to be running around all the time just because you’re in college. College doesn’t always have to be exciting, and it won’t be.
