Moving to college is the most exhilarating, yet frightening milestone for fresh-faced 18-year-olds. It can feel surreal, until everything is moved in and the only thing left is the “see you laters.” One moment you are existing in this weird moment, watching your parents drive away, and the next you are finished with two years of college questioning, what happened?
Dorms are great; dorms are fun going into freshman year. However, more and more I realize that juniors are starting to want more. Either it is a house a group of friends are renting or an apartment, some college students start to move into the world of rent and utilities. Freshman year, you talk to your roommate early. Junior year, you either know your roommate or hope you won’t end up living with godzilla.
That leads us to the packing for college. Freshman year it is weeks or even months in advance. You hit up Target, buy new things and wonder how you should decorate your dorm. Junior year, you pack maybe a week before, if that. All of a sudden, your things aren’t new and shiny. Your stuff has two years of battle scars on it and honestly, you're a little proud of those.
Academics seem to change for better or for worse. If you haven’t been a stellar student, you may kick your butt into gear. If you have been a good student, you start to think that you deserve relaxation. This may or may not impact your grades, but you feel good about what you’ve done. At this point, your classes should be mostly in your major. No more of dreading subject, in my case math and science, that is required for a general education requirement. You know the people in your major. You kind of have weird form of tunnel vision toward your future, blocking out the unnecessary classes that are out of your field. Immerse yourself into your major, don’t be scared to commit to your future. This isn’t freshman year where you may become a mathematician or you may become an artist. Know what you love to do and do it.
Responsibility has changed as well. No longer can you make the excuse of getting lost, not knowing how to do an assignment or simply forgetting something. As an upperclassman, you are the person that must have your sh*t together. Internships, applications and the choice to go to grad school comes up. Senior projects start being mentioned, graduation requirements and resumes start to matter so much more. The fresh faced freshman may be able to be confused about citations, times and requirements. However, you can no longer ride on others to show you how it goes.
You have changed as a person. You came in scared that people will hate you, that you’ll fail or that you picked the wrong school. Junior year, a part of you lives at the school. Yes, you may dread having to do the all night studying again. However, there is some excitement in coming back. You may be excited to see the people that you aren’t really friends with, but talk to occasionally walking to classes. The future may be daunting, but you can go far kid.
