What I've Learned in College: End of Freshman Year Fun Part 1

I can't believe my freshman year in college is over, it went by super quickly and showed me a whole new way of life. I’ve learned so many new things like....

1. Pretending My Mom is in My Head

It may sound a little weird, but your mom always (or most of the time) knows the right thing to say or do, so second semester I would imagine what my mom would suggest in different situations. By doing this I decided to go line dancing, choose a healthy snack, and not lay in my bed all day. I had the best time line dancing by just remembering to listen to “my mom” and get involved. So, just imagine what your mom would suggest and do that!

2. Bring a Car

Many parents tell their children that they won’t need a car their first year of college.

This is true, but you don’t really need a car in life either, so just bring a car. I didn’t, mostly because I don’t have one and because I got my license last summer, but my roommate did bring hers. Having her car was so freeing, we could go off campus to places where the buses didn’t go (like Wyoming). Parking passes are kind of expensive, which is a downside, but bring a car, so you can get off campus and not be so trapped. However, if you don’t bring a car you’ll learn to be comfortable with…

3. Riding Public Transportation

I have never really ridden public transportation before college. I rode it in third grade as part of a poorly planned field trip, on my high school’s homeless retreat (homeless people take buses, so that’s why we took buses), and I ride it in Breckenridge. Those are all special events and I was in a group when riding, but now I have ridden it all by myself! I’ve had to look at bus schedules, walk to bus stops, think of another plan when the bus doesn’t come, get on the correct bus, plan my day around the bus schedule, pull on the string, ask a police officer how to buy a ticket, swipe my student I.D., and more! I don’t mind it too much and find it very useful, but sometimes there are characters on the bus, like one time there was a man wearing a very cute ankle bracelet across from me. i know a man wearing an anklet is wild! But whatever I know how to ride a bus.

4. Keep in Touch

I have friends at schools all over the country, so I don’t see them everyday. However, this has given me a chance to keep in contact with them and really work towards our friendship! I mainly text people, but every once in a while I’ll write a letter because getting real mail is just too fun! Definitely make this a priority because it is one of the great joys in life to know people for a long time and have that relationship where you aren't pressured to talk or be anything, but yourself.

5.It's Okay to Not Love College

Honestly, I didn’t love freshmen year. I had to get used to being without my family, my friends, my surroundings, and everything I’ve lived with prior to that. I missed my family a lot! I facetimed them nearly every night and when my parents and I finished unpacking on move in day, I hugged them and cried so much that they said I was embarrassing them (they weren’t even joking). I also missed my friends, both close and acquaintances. It is just so weird to be around your friends all of the time and then just be thrown into a pile of strangers, it’s unnatural. I had to have classes with boys. I had to have class with people that weren’t like me. It’s a big change to be brought out of your bubble. There is a lot of adjustment, but hopefully next year is better as I’ll know things better.

6. Not Everyone is Like Me

Lilly, Polos, and The Great Gatsby,  apparently not everyone is like me. 

I’ve been in a bubble majority of my life. Only in elementary school did I go to public school, but before and after that I have been in a bubble; whether it be playing with my mom’s friends' kids, swimming with my synchronized swim team, attending a gifted and talented middle school, or attending private Catholic school, I have been around people similar to me majority of my life. In college, my perfect bubble world popped when I realized not everyone is like me. Some people love cows, others have skydived, some don’t know what Lilly Pulitzer is, some people don't think Snoop Dogg is cool, or they think that J. Crew is a "mom" store and others are democrats! Not that any of those experiences or opinions are bad, but they’re so much different than my own.

I’ve seen this with my roommate quite a bit. My roomie grew up on a ranch and is majoring in animal science, so she grew up with FFA (I don’t know what it stands for, but it’s something related to farming and agriculture) while I grew up with swimming. My roomie grew up with fresh eggs from her chickens, I grew up with eggs from King Soopers. My roomie grew up with people going to work following high school, while I grew up with everyone I know going to college. My roomie grew up with horses, cows, cats, dogs, and more, while I had sea monkeys and my neighbor’s cat. Once again, none of this is bad, but different and different is very shocking to me. Anyways, it’s been interesting to navigate through a sea of people and realizing we all have different experiences.

7. I Love Whole Foods

While, colleges try to make their dining halls enjoyable, they aren't. I have Celiac disease, so I can't consume wheat, rye, and barley. Dining Halls are not catered towards this and mainly have frozen food as a solution. If you have an allergy you may need to grocery shop for better food. In rural towns I prefer Whole Foods because they have a great selection, but in more suburban and urban areas King Soopers is fab (Urban areas keep the food trends updated, unlike rural stores). Since I go to a rural college I ended up shopping at Whole Foods a lot. I love it! They have flowers, lighting, mousse, and more!

8. My Parents are Old

I didn’t believe it when my high school teacher said that our parents will seem older when we come home from college, but it’s true. They’re old. They may look the same (except my dad needs his hair dyed again), but act older. For example, my dad only has three conversation topics: “somebody designs that, Katherine," Synchronized Swimming, and college for my brother. My mom wonders why I don’t know more about the CSU mascot and thinks that instead of my dad going on about how great rams are and how he would go to Taylor canyon and hear them fight, that I should learn about them in college. Great idea, mom! Because I have a class all about the animal behind college mascots! I love my parents very much and they have done so much for me (because let’s face it I would’ve left myself already, if I were raising myself), but after time away it is amazing how much they’ve grown older. My brother even says it’s like living with two dementia patients since I’m gone.

9. Professors Care

In middle and high school I was told that professors care more about their material than the students, however I found this to not be the case. Professors still care for your well being and want you to succeed. Many will do everything in their power to help you because they're still people after all. I'm sure there are professors that don't care much for their students, but I haven't had that experience. They really do care.

There is a lot to learn in a short amount of time! More in Part 2!