My freshman year of college was one of the worst years of my entire life. It seemed like everything was going wrong and nothing like I had imagined college would be. I wanted to leave and go to community college because I was miserable.
After my terrible freshman year, things started to change, and my life improved. Sometimes, things don’t always go as planned, but it can often make you a stronger version of yourself. And let’s face it, beginnings can be challenging.
My vision of freshman year
The college experience I had pictured included riding my bike to class, living in the dorms, joining a sorority, trying new foods at the dining hall, and exploring a new town. And making tons of new friends — everyone in the dorm would be one huge friend group. And friends in every class. Weekend trips! All while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. You know, living the life you see in movies and on Instagram!
My reality of freshman year
Let’s say, from the outset, freshman year did not go as planned:
- The roommate: I immediately realized my roommate and I were not a good match. She was loud and would come home in the middle of the night, turn on the lights, and make microwave popcorn. When I asked her, “What are you doing? I’m sleeping!” she would reply with a flippant comment like “You are such a light sleeper!” In addition, we barely had anything in common and did not have much to talk about. I had hoped to become close with my roommate and felt defeated that this would not happen.
- The skin condition: I contracted a horrible condition only a few weeks into the school year. I didn’t have a car and was forced to Uber thirty to forty minutes away to different doctors and the hospital. I missed some of my classes the first week of school and could not do sorority recruitment. While everyone else was going out, making friends, and having the best time in college, I was bedridden during the school year, where most college friendships are made. As a result, I didn’t have a big friend group like I had hoped and found myself eating alone at the dining hall a lot.
- Loneliness: No one prepared me for how lonely college can feel. It’s not like living at home, where I could talk to someone in my family if I needed something. I had a lot of trouble finding friends as a freshman and spent much time alone in my dorm room. I thought I would instantly make friends because, in the past, I had never had trouble making friends. Even though I was meeting people, it took me a while to feel like I had friends.
- The car accident: That November, two of my friends and I went on a road trip one weekend. The trip was so much fun, but a car collided with us head-on on the final day, totaling both cars. Luckily, all physical injuries were minor. However, I experienced horrible post-traumatic stress disorder and hated being in a car after that happened.
- Academics: Some classes in college were much harder than I expected. I was not used to having tests make up most of my grades, which made me anxious because I am not a great test taker. Also, I realized I was not enjoying what I was learning and knew that my chosen major was not for me. I considered dropping out and attending a local community college after my first year because I hated it so much.
Lessons I learned from my less-than-stellar freshman year of college
1. It is okay not to have a lot of friends
I realized that quality over quantity is so true for having friends. It’s much better only to have a few close, real friends than to have a huge group of surface-level friends. That matters most as long as you have people you can hang out with and be yourself around.
2. Don’t compare your life to anyone else’s
I often compared my high school friends’ college experience to mine. They would tell me how much they loved college and all the amazing friends they made. I would feel discouraged because my freshman year was nothing like theirs, and I was disappointed that I wasn’t having fun and enjoying college.
3. Sometimes things don’t go as planned, and that is okay
I had so many weird and bad things happen during my freshman year. The college experience was unexpected, but everything turned out okay.
4. Things get better with time
It felt like things kept getting worse and worse, but after my freshman year, things did improve for me. I think it is important to be patient and focus on things you can control rather than things that are out of your control.
5. Set goals for yourself
After my freshman year, I knew something needed to change to be happier in college. I spent the summer thinking of what I could do to improve my life. I decided to sign up for sorority recruitment as a sophomore and made it my goal to attend every sorority event I could. I also tried to get to know at least one person at every event I attended.
6. Change your major if you aren’t happy
When I struggled academically, I thought it was the end of the world and that I was not smart enough. I realized I was not enjoying my major and switched it to something I liked.
College doesn’t always go as planned, and it isn’t quite as glamorous as YouTube, Instagram, and movies make it seem. I set an extremely high and, it turns out, unrealistic expectation for college. Remember that things will improve if you have a not-so-great freshman year of college.
It can be hard seeing all your friends from high school having tons of fun at college when you are not enjoying your experience. You still have three years left, and this past year was a pandemic, making things extra difficult.
The next three years will be much better because school should be in person, making meeting new people and making new friends much easier. I made some of my closest friends during my second and third years at college.
Not everything will be perfect, and it is important to make the best of every situation and improve your life if it is not going how you want it to go. I thought my college experience would be awful because of the disappointing first year, but things got much better with time.
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