College is always a fresh, exciting experience. The mundane practices of k-12, as well as the people surrounding you, are no longer there or are very far away. The first year consists of so many new challenges and some serious adaption, but moving away at the same time can be a breeding ground for even more overwhelming change. It’s a new environment, new people, and new experiences. I’ll share with you a little bit about my first year and my transition from small-town life filled with family and friends to a bigger city with many foreign faces.
Living an hour and a half away from home can be a taxing deed. I think that not having family around is the most arduous part for me. It’s so easy to take crawfish boils, shopping trips, and movie days for granted. However, being away also has its perks. Being nagged by your parents to clean your room and put your dishes in the dishwasher is no longer an issue. Your new room can be as messy as you’d like and you can leave dishes out until there aren’t any clean ones. (Okay, so that last one might be slightly frowned upon because dishes are smelly and your roommates may get angry.) Although it’s difficult to adjust to being away from family members, it reminds you to love them that much harder when you finally do get to see them.
Our friends are some of the most important people in our lives. They keep us level-headed and grounded when we have outlandish ideas that we know would not be good if we were to actually carry them out. Distance definitely puts a strain on relationships. Not everyone that you were friends with in high-school will stay (even if you both promised to be forever friends), and you’ll find that you were only friends with most of them because they were the only ones around and it was convenient. Don’t get down just yet. All hope is not lost. Soon, you’re going to meet so many diverse people and become friends with the ones that you actually have things in common with. If you made a forever friend in high school, that’s great, but college and careers are where most of our lifetime friendships are conceived.
Freedom is not always freeing. Living away from home aids us with responsibility that can’t be taught. We’re forced to do our own laundry, get our own oil changes, and be sick without our parents there to comfort us. Hopefully, most parents give us the tools to be able to do these things long before we move away, but even so, it still isn’t a breeze. Grocery shopping is like learning to play an instrument from scratch and budgeting is a foreign language. You now have new priorities that you probably didn’t bat an eyelash at before.
Although it may be a little trying at first, things will soon become routine and much easier. Stress may take over every now and then, and things may feel like they’re falling apart, but they aren’t. As long as you maintain balance between your responsibilities and your well-being, everything will work itself out. Remember to go to class and study, but also remember to take a break and relax when you need it. Even though you’re in school and that’s what you’re supposed to focus your energy on, remember that you still have to live your life and sanity comes before anything. Go out, go to concerts, and go that party, even when you have a test the next day. You’re still going to pass. You shouldn’t pause your life to drown yourself in books and tests. So many life lessons and experiences will be missed if you do. Do what you have to do to graduate, but remember to enjoy the journey!
