Hugh Prather once said, “Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes." Life in Small Town, East Texas was pretty simple—I would wake up at 6:45 a.m., go to high school until 3:35 p.m., practice whatever sport was in season until 8 p.m., hang out at the local Sonic with the rest of the town until 10:55 p.m., and would be home in bed by my 11 p.m. curfew. I had life down to a science. That is, until one day I hugged everyone I loved, loaded up the truck, and made the drive down to College Town, U.S.A. It couldn't be that different, right? Wrong. Here're just a few differences I've noticed within my first few days attending college.
Classes are big.
Now, this one may be a given, but really, the class size difference is breathtaking. Put this in perspective—my calculus class in high school had five students. Tuesday afternoon, I walked into a calculus class of 250. That's a 5,000 percent increase for you non-math majors out there.
Midnight is no longer "late."
Back in high school, midnight was a perfectly normal time to go to sleep. Unless you had homework or it was a particularly exciting weekend, you were probably asleep at midnight. If you got a phone call at midnight, you knew it had to be important. Gone are those days. Midnight in college is equivalent to 8 p.m. in the "real world."
Riding the bus is cool again.
Remember back in elementary when literally everyone rode the bus to and from school every day? Well apparently that's a thing again (minus the lunch boxes and coloring books).
Eating patterns are non-existent.
Instead of eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at set times each day, college kids really just eat whenever they feel like it. One day you might eat lunch at 10 a.m., the next day it could be at 3 p.m. No one really knows, and no one really cares. Some days you eat only twice, others you eat four or five times.
Classes end whenever the professor is done.
This may not seem like a big deal, but think about it—how many times did you just sit in a high school classroom waiting for the bell to ring? That kind of thing doesn't happen anymore. If your 75-minute class is done after 45 minutes, you can just get up and leave. It truly is a phenomenal concept.
You will have multiple friend groups.
In high school, you have a group of about 10 friends that you do everything with. In college, you have your friends that are in class with you, your friends that are from your hometown, your friends that you met after acceptance but before move-in day, your friends that you're in organizations with, your friends that live on your same floor, and your friends that you have no idea how you even met.
There is always something going on.
Many nights in high school are flat out boring. You want to go out and do something? Too bad. Try again tomorrow night. However, in college, if you want to go to a party, there's surely one going on. If you want to worship, one of the many churches is sure to be having an event. If you want to flash some school spirit, chances are one of your school's athletic teams is taking the field or court.
Freedom.
This is the big one. The beautiful, and terrifying part about college is that you have the freedom to do just about anything you want. Proceed with caution.
Obviously, the list of differences you'll experience in your transition from high school to the new world that is college life is not limited to the contents of this article; everyone will have their own unique realizations. However, if you are a high schooler reading this, prepare yourself. As soon as you cross that county line on your way out of town toward your new university home, your life will be changed forever. Don't get me wrong, high school was great—college is simply better.
