If you told me a year ago that not having a car freshmen year would turn out to be a good thing, I probably would have rolled my eyes. But here I am, having almost made it through my freshman year without a mode of transportation and I'm better for it!
Roughly a year ago, my parents told me they thought it would serve me better not to bring my car down to Texas. Their reasoning made sense, I am an out-of-stater. If anything were to happen to me on the roads or with the car, they wouldn't be able to get to me quick enough. But regardless, I was so upset that I wouldn't be able to get anywhere on my own.
Little did I know, my parents were doing me a huge favor.
For most Freshmen, we are all living on campus. Classes are no less than 15 minutes away and it is probably a nice day outside (at least here at Baylor it is). In high school, college campuses seemed so big that I convinced myself that I would need to drive to classes because of the distance. LOL @ that. No freshman living on campus is going to drive to class that is as close as 5th street. Unless you have a moped/scooter, in which case, I am super jealous of you every time I am late to class (which is a daily occurrence unfortunately). Side note: no car means no parking tickets. We all know how awful the On-Campus Parking Security is.
Not having a car doesn't just mean walking to class, it means walking everywhere. Wanted to go to the library? I walked. Wanted to visit my friends in another dorm? I walked. Wanted to go to the cool new dining hall at the other end of campus? I walked. Wanted to go to Common Grounds for a latte to wake myself up before class? Guess what, I walked. While it was an extreme inconvenience particularly when I was feeling lazy, it is a great way to stay healthy my freshmen year. The Freshmen Fifteen is real, people. It seems like in college access to food is always within 50 steps and that can take a toll unless you're walking everywhere like you do when you don't have another option. It is like you have subconsciously built a workout into your day.
The most beneficial thing I gained from not having a car freshmen year is how to put yourself out there and ask for help. This lesson has been invaluable especially in my first semester when I was just meeting people. I had to put aside my pride and ask people who would later become my best friends if I could get a ride to HEB or Sonic rather than going by myself like I would if I had my own car. It forced me to get out of my comfort zone and make friends. Learning to be more dependent on others ended up being a really good thing and forced me to make really solid relationships very quickly into freshmen year.
