After sitting through what feels like millions of orientation sessions, sending countless emails to administration representatives, and talking to several friends who have already started college, you would think you would be a pro at being a college student. WRONG. You have no idea what college is like until you’ve actually done it yourself. Here’s what no one ever told you:
College isn’t just about partying
Wait…it’s not??? I would like a refund please!!! You actually have to do work! You have to study! You have to get good grades or you’re out! I know, someone should have told you this sooner.
You will most likely take a cold shower at least 3 times a week
Used to your one hour long showers with hot water at home? Sorry! There’s none of those in college. You’ll be lucky if you’re able to shower for 10 minutes without losing hot water, and you’ll be even luckier if your shower is warm at all.
Don’t drink tequila or Fireball. Just don’t.
College is full of students who swear they “will never drink again” after spending a night with tequila or Fireball. They may taste good going down, but beware, they taste horrible coming back up.
You don’t wear close to all of the clothes you bring
You show up on move-in day with 3 totes full of clothes, a trunk full of shoes, 4 bags of sweatshirts, and cases upon cases of jeans. Newsflash: we college kids are lazy and careless. Have an 8am class? You’ll be wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt for the entirety of your day. Wore a cute outfit on a Monday? No fear, you can wear it again tomorrow since your MWF people are different than your TTH people.
Pregames will start earlier and earlier as the semester goes on
When you first start college, you’ll start pregaming around 10:00 to leave for the bars at 11:00. As the semester goes on, you and your friends decide that 10:00 is much too late to start drinking, and by the end of the semester, you’re texting your friends to come over to start pregaming at 7:30. We’ve figured out quickly that you can’t drink enough and still have time to take 142 pictures in one hour!
Registering for classes is the college version of The Hunger Games
You can’t just take any class you want at the most convenient time for you. Oh no, you must fight for it. Getting locked out of classes became one of the most frustrating things my first year of school. Everyone is fighting for the same few spots and only the strongest will come out alive.
Your sleep schedule will be extremely unpredictable
From staying up on a Thursday night until 3:00am and struggling to wake up Friday morning at 8:00am for class the next day due to going to the bar the night before, college is chuck full of necessary naps. College is also the place for your sleep to constantly become interrupted; between the annoying girls next door to your roommate who insists on making Easy Mac at 2am, you will be inevitably woken up in the midst of your sleep.
You will drink coffee whether you like it or not
America runs on Dunkin? More like college students run on Dunkin. During finals week you will start to feel as if coffee is really what runs through your veins. You don’t even have to like coffee to become addicted to it and rely on it for getting through the day.
You will eat regardless of if you’re hungry or not
Have class at 5:30 so you won’t have time to stop for dinner? College student logic: eat at 4:30 before class, eat a snack in class because you’re bored, then go out for ice cream with your friends when you’re out of class. You start just going to the dining hall at times when you aren’t hungry because you become bored, unmotivated to study, or because it’s just when all of your friends are going and you don’t want to miss your opportunity. Having food tucked under your bed doesn’t help the situation either.
Privacy is a thing of the past
You will always have people around when you’re trying to study, sleep, go to the bathroom, get ready, eat, change, talk on the phone, and basically do anything you try to do. For people who love to be surrounded by people at all times, this can be a good thing. But when you find yourself just wanting to be alone, it’s a rare occasion when you can actually achieve that.
