Author: Rigatoni

In the weeks prior to September 2nd, all I could think about was the impending move across the state to college. I realized how much I needed to cherish the time with my family, and my cat. As I talked with my parents about everything college-related, some of my anxiety was put to rest, but new stressors began to present themselves. I realized how much I really needed to change how I, well, lived. My high school life was as follows: Wake up, go to school, go to work, and go to sleep. I realized I had to add things like going to the library, practicing piano, doing homework, and going to class at different times to my daily schedule. All of these new daily tasks added to the stress of coming to college.

Little did I know, coming to college would actually be the best thing to ever happen to me. I am very grateful for my high school experience, dont get me wrong. The people I call my “high school friends” now, were just amazing and I love them all so much. The thing that has surprised me most about coming to college though, is how close I feel with these new people. I was close with my high school friends obviously, but not anywhere near as close as I feel with people I have know for what, 6 months? How does that work? This has to be because of how fast we found eachother. It does make sense though, becuase we were all in the same boat. Everyone was frantically searching to find friends. Move-in day was when I met them, and we have seen each other practically every singe day since. Being with them that frequently of course is going to make me more comfortable with them. Overall, I ended up falling in with the right people. College has been just a 10/10 experience so far, and I cannot wait to see where the next 4 years takes me and my friends.

 

 

I would be lying if I said I was prepared for coming to college. Living alone has been a huge challenge for me. Things like making my bed, doing my laundry, and washing dishes were always left undone, or done by my parents. Yes, my parents could have done more to prepare me by making me do things independently. But, I take full responsibility. I should have always been cleaner and more on top of things, just like how I should have saved up more money. I just didn’t realize what a challenge living on my own would be. I have overcome this though. By setting a high standard for myself, and making sure my room is presentable for my roommate, I have become a much cleaner and responsible person.

Another challenge coming to college has presented to me, was differentiating what was friend time and what was work time. First semester, I rarely got work done because I struggled to set aside time to do it. I almost always was hanging out with friends and never actually did my work. This was not just a personal problem, it was one that all of my friends also dealt with. We recognized this, and now we set aside time to go to the library. We don’t leave until all of us are done with the day’s work. Another thing we have collectively decided upon, is moving plans, if we have work to do. First semester, our thought process was “I have a paper, I’ll just do it later,” Now, we make sure its done before we can have our movie night. This way, we actually have our work done, and deserve the movie night, or “family” dinner that we had to postpone.