Senior to Freshman

Everything changed. It sounds ominous but it really is true and not in a negative way. Going from a standard suburb girl from a big family to a college campus of 69,000 students living in a apartment with 3 other people is expected to be different. However, I failed to realize all the other things that would be so different for me.

For one thing, I came to the realization I had too much stuff. When I became to one having to pack and move everything up and down stairs, my excess belongings had become apparent. I also realized how dependent on people I was. I remember on the second night after winter break I was still on campus all alone in my apartment. I sat at my kitchen table and stared into the dark, quiet hallway that lead to my roommates lifeless rooms. I felt that lifelessness consuming me and was overwhelmed with sad, lonely sparks of emotion. I immediately call them crying to them how much I miss ‘em.

I also learned no one cares in college. From sleeping on random benches around campus to having different boyfriends within a month, at my small high school I would have been the gossip of the year. In college, people walk by you uninterested, the only people who care to know who your dating is your friends… sometimes.

I discovered you have to really work for friendships. The likelihood of you being in the same class as your friends semester after semester is highly unlikely, and if your in different majors forget about it! Roommates change pretty much every year and so do people in college. If you really value a friendship you much schedule lunch dates and constantly reach out to keep it alive. It so easy to get caught up in academics and extracurriculars that you forget to make time for family and friends. In high school, you are in similar classes and have the same lunch times, and your all at the same location; in college, your not. My main friends from high school are currently at school Iowa, Georgia, and Waco and it is a constant battle of trying to talk to them. Conflicting schedules and new friends take up a lot of time but we still make it work luckily.

Finally, I found enemies are pointless. My dad always taught me never make an enemy when you can make a contact, but it can be hard when you pack dozens of kids in small boxes for 8 hours a day. One is bound to make a mistake and tick someone off or simply find someone they really don’t like. Contrariwise, college life makes it really easy to avoid people. Simply put if you don’t like someone, you don’t talk to them. People are still bound to make mistakes and rub someone the wrong way, but for the most part your surrounded by people you care about. Therefore, it has been really easy to not make enemies and keep connections because if you don’t particularly care for a person fake a smile, say your busy , and move on with your life. Eventually they do the same because, again, in college you don’t have time to waste on someone who doesn’t want it. Overall I learned after my first year of college that time is precious and I have some much more to spend.