The first day of college is a whirl between how excited you are and how incredibly confused you are. You're trying to inadvertently show off your week old shoes and first worn t-shirt. You wave to friends and nonchalantly contemplate on where you're actually going. Sometimes you end up taking back routes because you literally walked blindly to where you're at. "Should I pull out my map?" "No, you know what, I'll just pull out my phone and act like I'm texting someone while I pull up the interactive map." "Wait, where in the world is building XT300?" "Oh hey dude, what's up? I'm heading to Chemistry, so like yeah." "Oh, nah I know, I'm just taking a detour, ya know?". Face it, no one wants to look like your a first-day-of-classer... when you obviously are there for the first day... But hey, what does it hurt to try and look like an upperclassmen?
Over the past 4 years, I've been through some ups and downs, some life lessons, some "college" times, good days, bad days, 48 hour days, and even days where I slept most of the day. College is an adventure unlike anything I've experienced and quite frankly, it's become a lifestyle that I most of the time don't even think about. It's a process of maturing and a process of learning your limits. It's the time when you learn what you like and what you don't like. Over these 4 years, however, a TON has changed. Here is a list of the 20 things you learn from freshman year to senior year:
1. You're professors care - they just don't ever remember your name. Don't be offended if they ask you to repeat your name even if you go to their office after sending an email to them telling them your name and that you're coming to their office. They teach hundreds of students.
2. Friends don't want to organize your class schedule, class materials, or class routine. And mom's not around to do it for you. Therefore, get to work and learn how to organize yourself.Alexander Graham Bell once said, "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success." As you grow in college, you know how to prepare yourself better.
3. That "seat" is not your seat, even if you literally write your name on it. Class is a herding ground for nomad students, so adapt to your element and find a new seat. Eventually, you'll find a central grazing patch to stick with the entire semester.
4. Attendance is not taken 98% of the time, so literally the choice is yours. Class will move on and you will be left behind, so don't be surprised when you kick yourself in the butt for not knowing numbers 23-29 on the test. You have better decision making skills.
5. If you try and schedule everything on everyday of every week, your stress levels will undoubtedly surpass your happiness levels. As time goes on, you schedule less and learn to remember things and times. Results = a more relaxed and happier you.
6. Your major may not be the only major you attempt to conquer. Sometimes it takes dating a crappy major that you thought was the one before you find that actual one true love.
7. Free food and cheap food fade into "I can cook better than every chef on campus". Learning to cook is an art that you begin to appreciate. (Mainly because cooking your own food is far more efficient for your wallet)
8. With cooking comes drinking - actually tasting the drink becomes a perk to growing. The classic "water-beir" gets old and you will have an epiphany sooner or later that drinks can actually taste good when it's chosen and not consumed like a thirsty elephant.
9. You begin to actually enjoy class and find things interesting - major courses are far more interesting than core. You actually find class interesting. If this is not true, you may be in the wrong major. (Refer to No. 6 on how to manage your relationship)
10. Understanding and learning what preparing for a test actually means. Preparing for a test doesn't mean studying the three days before the test; It means knowing the stuff you're reviewing because you've actually kept up with class.
11. You find the good in music and begin to fade out the sounds of the music the radio plays. Granted, some songs are good on the radio, but you end up finding that niche of music you actually feel.
12. The place you study will most likely be the place you study for a few short days or weeks at a time before you explore off to a new study zone. Changing the environment is good, so you begin to accept that studying can be done anywhere you find a place.
13. Friends in high school slowly fade and relationships with college friends begin to set in stone. Some times you learn from some high school mistakes which ultimately molt into really solid life long college friends. However, if high school friends stay with you through the journey, then you don't need me telling you who is the ones you need to keep close - you already know.
14. Going to bed late and saying you pulled an all-nighter is fun to talk about, but in the end, nothing beats a full night of rest under that comforter... even if the sleeping marathon starts at 9:00pm. Going to bed early is just something you picked up along the way and no one is judging.
15. You become an experienced professional in the banking business. Not really a professional, but smarter than you once were. As you mature, so does your bank account. And as your bank account matures, your quality of life does as well. Italian Pasta > Greasy Pretzel Dogs on a Stick
16. If you don't want to do something, you don't have to. You can literally walk away and walk back to your place. Other people's nights will continue on without you and you won't be interrogated afterwards. It's that simple. You learn the importance of managing yourself.
17. Your apartment is still a "college apartment", but it's substantially cleaner than how you once lived. Where you live actually becomes your home and you begin to live cleaner. Your place is in no way the dream place, but it is definitely a sweet spot and you dig it. You also realize that your dream home will be pretty solid too, but with more matching furniture and less poster art.
18. The news actually becomes less dry and you begin to read more of it. So much of it that you figure out what not to read and how to sort through media-rubbish. Sometimes, you even catch yourself watching the news in the morning while eating breakfast.
19. School spirit is no longer the energy behind your college success (unless your a cheerleader or mascot of course). You realize that a pennant on the wall and a jersey in the closet will do. Fun is extracted from being a part of the team and not screaming your lungs out with painfully flaky paint on your chest. You were once a warrior and now you watch from the seat of your horse as your pawns charge forward.
20. Your trips home slow down and you start to lose grip of you home town. However, your love for family grows. You never liked calling people on the phone and now you enjoy hearing the voices of loved ones. The value of their words is priceless and you know that when family calls, it's going to be a long, but enjoyable, talk.
Dear Seniors,
JUST KEEP EXPLORING.
Over the past 4 years, I've been through some ups and downs, some life lessons, some "college" times, good days, bad days, 48 hour days, and even days where I slept most of the day. College is an adventure unlike anything I've experienced and quite frankly, it's become a lifestyle that I most of the time don't even think about. It's a process of maturing and a process of learning your limits. It's the time when you learn what you like and what you don't like. Over these 4 years, however, a TON has changed. Here is a list of the 20 things you learn from freshman year to senior year:
1. You're professors care - they just don't ever remember your name. Don't be offended if they ask you to repeat your name even if you go to their office after sending an email to them telling them your name and that you're coming to their office. They teach hundreds of students.
2. Friends don't want to organize your class schedule, class materials, or class routine. And mom's not around to do it for you. Therefore, get to work and learn how to organize yourself.Alexander Graham Bell once said, "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success." As you grow in college, you know how to prepare yourself better.
3. That "seat" is not your seat, even if you literally write your name on it. Class is a herding ground for nomad students, so adapt to your element and find a new seat. Eventually, you'll find a central grazing patch to stick with the entire semester.
4. Attendance is not taken 98% of the time, so literally the choice is yours. Class will move on and you will be left behind, so don't be surprised when you kick yourself in the butt for not knowing numbers 23-29 on the test. You have better decision making skills.
5. If you try and schedule everything on everyday of every week, your stress levels will undoubtedly surpass your happiness levels. As time goes on, you schedule less and learn to remember things and times. Results = a more relaxed and happier you.
6. Your major may not be the only major you attempt to conquer. Sometimes it takes dating a crappy major that you thought was the one before you find that actual one true love.
7. Free food and cheap food fade into "I can cook better than every chef on campus". Learning to cook is an art that you begin to appreciate. (Mainly because cooking your own food is far more efficient for your wallet)
8. With cooking comes drinking - actually tasting the drink becomes a perk to growing. The classic "water-beir" gets old and you will have an epiphany sooner or later that drinks can actually taste good when it's chosen and not consumed like a thirsty elephant.
9. You begin to actually enjoy class and find things interesting - major courses are far more interesting than core. You actually find class interesting. If this is not true, you may be in the wrong major. (Refer to No. 6 on how to manage your relationship)
10. Understanding and learning what preparing for a test actually means. Preparing for a test doesn't mean studying the three days before the test; It means knowing the stuff you're reviewing because you've actually kept up with class.
11. You find the good in music and begin to fade out the sounds of the music the radio plays. Granted, some songs are good on the radio, but you end up finding that niche of music you actually feel.
12. The place you study will most likely be the place you study for a few short days or weeks at a time before you explore off to a new study zone. Changing the environment is good, so you begin to accept that studying can be done anywhere you find a place.
13. Friends in high school slowly fade and relationships with college friends begin to set in stone. Some times you learn from some high school mistakes which ultimately molt into really solid life long college friends. However, if high school friends stay with you through the journey, then you don't need me telling you who is the ones you need to keep close - you already know.
14. Going to bed late and saying you pulled an all-nighter is fun to talk about, but in the end, nothing beats a full night of rest under that comforter... even if the sleeping marathon starts at 9:00pm. Going to bed early is just something you picked up along the way and no one is judging.
15. You become an experienced professional in the banking business. Not really a professional, but smarter than you once were. As you mature, so does your bank account. And as your bank account matures, your quality of life does as well. Italian Pasta > Greasy Pretzel Dogs on a Stick
16. If you don't want to do something, you don't have to. You can literally walk away and walk back to your place. Other people's nights will continue on without you and you won't be interrogated afterwards. It's that simple. You learn the importance of managing yourself.
17. Your apartment is still a "college apartment", but it's substantially cleaner than how you once lived. Where you live actually becomes your home and you begin to live cleaner. Your place is in no way the dream place, but it is definitely a sweet spot and you dig it. You also realize that your dream home will be pretty solid too, but with more matching furniture and less poster art.
18. The news actually becomes less dry and you begin to read more of it. So much of it that you figure out what not to read and how to sort through media-rubbish. Sometimes, you even catch yourself watching the news in the morning while eating breakfast.
19. School spirit is no longer the energy behind your college success (unless your a cheerleader or mascot of course). You realize that a pennant on the wall and a jersey in the closet will do. Fun is extracted from being a part of the team and not screaming your lungs out with painfully flaky paint on your chest. You were once a warrior and now you watch from the seat of your horse as your pawns charge forward.
20. Your trips home slow down and you start to lose grip of you home town. However, your love for family grows. You never liked calling people on the phone and now you enjoy hearing the voices of loved ones. The value of their words is priceless and you know that when family calls, it's going to be a long, but enjoyable, talk.
Dear Seniors,
JUST KEEP EXPLORING.