You hear your 6:30 a.m. alarm. You groan as you roll out of bed and onto your cold, dorm room floor, all the while wishing you were doing anything else. You throw on a big t-shirt, snag some breakfast on Sorority Row, and stroll into your 8 a.m. shortly after. This was me on my first day of class, and I sat through the syllabus before heading to the Student Center to meet a friend for coffee. It was only after I left to go begin my first assignments that I realized the "hype" of a first day of school was nearly gone. Sure, I had just finished my first class of college, but it didn't feel all that special. There was no rush like there had been on all of my other first days, even knowing that I had officially moved on to an important part of my life. In fact, I barely realized it was a stepping stone at all at the time. It just felt like life.

Well, friend, welcome to college.

A lot of people would argue that college begins after you move in, or even after you graduate high school. But I don't think that's the case.

In my world, getting to college was a big step. But once I was here, I was thrust into the world of Rush, ordering pizza at 12 a.m., and getting to know the people I now call my friends. The actual 'college experience' was far from my mind. It all felt like a giant sleep-away camp that would send me home with a loving pat on the head at the end of my hectic first week. However, the end of my first week came, I joined my sorority, and life continued on. When the first day of school arrived, it was more of a nuisance than a necessity to go to class, but I quickly fell into a routine.

It was once that routine solidified that I realized what I really was; the point in time in which I think I truly became a college student. Not when everything was going full speed, but when life began to slow down and I could suddenly see what was around me. The new sorority I was proud to become a part of, the new classes I had sat through, the freakishly unhealthy food I had eaten, and the new friends I had made (among other great things).

Getting dropped off is one thing, but I think living the college lifestyle is another animal completely. One you only tackle when you are fully immersed in everything college has to offer. Before I left home, I felt strange saying that I was a college student, having experienced nothing. But now, when people ask me if I'm in college, I feel I can truly say yes.