Author: Marambe

So far, dorm life has been going really well for me. While I like spending time with my family, I’ve never been one to get home sick. This has still been true living here on campus. I feel like I was prepared for my new living situation and I’ve been able to embrace it fully. At home I have two older brothers who still live at home. When I lived with my family, I felt like I could never get a moment alone; someone was always bugging me about something or wanting me to help them with their boredom. I’m sure those with siblings can relate. One of the best things about college and living on campus for me so far has been the peace of only really having to worry about myself.

I’ve found that I’m pretty good at managing my time and stuff I have to get done when I’m able to decide a routine for myself. I’ve hardly had a problem getting homework or chores done, until I start getting pushed to do so or even just reminded by others. For example, I always knew when I had to and would clean my cat’s litter box, but my mom would still pester/remind me to do it, which would frustrate me. Here I have to decide when I get things done completely myself. This can be a little scary, but also freeing. Overall I think I’ve been figuring it out well, other than sometimes forgetting to eat periodically, because I’m not getting called to dinner by someone else.

The biggest thing that has surprised me so far being in college is the behavior of other students. I thought going to college was proof that someone can care about and commit to something. I’ve seen that a lot of people here don’t seem to really care about learning, which I think is odd because they’re paying for it now. I see people on their computers playing games while the teacher is teaching even more than I did in high school. People consistently ask the teacher a question that the teacher just answered. So far getting group work done equally is nearly impossible, because no one seems to want to contribute.

Another thing I was surprised at the lack of is a massive workload. All I ever heard was that being in college was very hard work and a lot of it. I remember them saying during orientation that you need to schedule yourself three hours of homework per one hour of class. The truth is, I find myself only having one or two assignments a week. I’m pleasantly surprised at the lack of busy work I’m assigned or that I do in class. Feeling like the work I was doing was pointless was my biggest hurdle in getting stuff done in high school. So far, I haven’t experienced that in college, which I hope continues.