While we’re all busy exploring beaches/binge-watching Netflix/sneaking off to parties or just basically trying to live up to our over-ambitious summer schedule, we can’t get our heads off of the fact that college is just around the corner. For freshmen like myself, we know it’s time to close our high school chapter and this time we won’t find ourselves in a ‘been-there-done-that’ situation. Here’s a little insight into a few of the giant list of obnoxious thoughts which every freshman has about what they might have signed up for the upcoming fall. So keep reading for 13 thoughts every fresher has the summer before uni!
1. What if my roommate and I don’t get along?
Subtly stating, what if we don’t gel well? On the other hand what is the possibility that she/he turns out to be weird? I’m aware weird is too general a category to classify but to those of us who have sat and watched movies like ‘The Roommate’ (till the END!) we know HOW weird it can get. All freshmen hope for a like-minded individual as their roommate who can eventually substitute the high school bestie they left behind, but in a system where the computer’s assigning you a partner amongst the thousands, what really are the chances?
If you and your roommate don’t get along, you’re probably not alone. Just try to mind your own business, unless you really can’t handle the situation- in which you can let your RA know.
2. How often will my roommate want the room to himself/herself?
We’d all admit that none of us are going to be surprised when we’re asked to give our roommate her/his privacy. But even with our respect for personal space, we might not be too sure of how often will we be landing ourselves to such situations. Do I negotiate on such plans with my roommate? Do I work out and put a certain limit? Or do I find myself an alternate place to crash at, beforehand?
Every situation is all relative, so just try and work out a fair system that works for the both of you. Remember, communication is key.
3. What if I’m unable to make friends?
After the series of high school squad photos we uploaded over the summer break, this is something all freshmen tend to worry about. We’re aware that college would introduce us to a large pool of people as diverse as the list of majors we were provided with, but after leaving behind the friends who’ve known us better than ourselves for years, we cannot help but think of how long will it be until we form our next squad?
It’ll happen, don’t worry. Just be as nice and accepting to everyone as you would want to be treated yourself.
4. Will I be subjected to peer pressure?
No I don’t mean middle-school peer pressure where the roommate tells me I won’t get to sleep in my room if I don’t do her laundry. I’m referring to the passive peer pressure, which in reference to the previous thought could be re-framed into the question of “How far will I go to make these friends?” None of us are new to the constant societal pressure of trying to fit in, and in a place like college, where we could find ourselves against a large pool of a certain kind of people, do we switch over to the rules of the majority or do we stand alone in our own ground?
The key, as with most things, is to find the perfect balance. The minute you feel uncomfortable is a good indicator that you’ve gone too far.
5. How do I write a paper?
As a production major, personally it’d be more appropriate to ask, “Do I even write a paper?” Having grown up in an education system where the method of studying was of a different format, I find myself alienated by the concept of research papers/studio tests/every instruction outlined in the course breakup. Which explains the series of doubts (hopefully) every freshman has. Will I be taught to write a paper? Will I be given tutorials? Will I have to Google it?
OR
Am I the only one who even has this question? Doubtful. But the complexity of your assignments will most likely mimic the courses you chose, so they won’t be anything you can’t handle.
6. What if I lose interest in my program?
There are about 10% of the people who’ve known what they wanted to do since the early years of their lives. For most of us, the daunting task of choosing a major was mostly based on what momentarily holds our interest (of course, a little bit of talent too). So now that we’re thrown in a pool of students with various interesting majors, we do worry if our inconsistent 18 year old brains will remain consistent about this choice.
If you lose interest in your program, it’s OK. This is why you chose the program in the first place, to learn more about it- so if you end up learning you don’t like it- change it. Simple as that.
7. How bad/good will my time management skills turn out to be?
Straight after the long summer where it was too tiresome to even hit the gym regularly, we cannot deny that the idea of attending classes/getting a job/staying fit/participating in clubs/going out MORE than once a weekend, isn’t stressing us out. It’s just a matter of time before we’re stuck trying to balance our academic, social and personal life all at once, and we’re just hoping we don’t get too stuck in trying to receive the best of both (ALL) worlds.
This is something everyone has to figure out for themselves, but in the end the majority of us eventually adapt in the ways that we need to. The fact that you’re worrying about it in the first place probably indicates it won’t be as big of a problem as you anticipate.
8. Will I be able to continue my long distance relationship?
Even while we’re all closing the high school chapter, some of us choose to keep a page out of it. To those of us moving countries for our degree, we know our time of daily/weekly visits to our high school boyfriend/girlfriend will soon be replaced by Skype sessions and late night calls. Even then, with all of us heading for a fresh start in completely different paths, we cannot brush off the thought that what seems like a wise decision, might not turn out to be the wisest of all.
Like most things, communication is key here. Go with your instincts.
9. How many people do I have to share the bathroom with?
Growing up in a boarding school, I tend to be extremely adaptable to such situations but yes, not all of us here have spent our childhood in dormitories of sixty teenagers (ouch, I know!) which hence, makes the concept of community bathrooms a bit of an issue to MANY freshmen.
So, those of us who’ll be moving in on campus, guess it’s time for us to redefine our idea of personal space. Good luck!
10. How often will my parents force me to Skype with them?
At this point in our lives, most of us usually wake up from a sleepover to over four missed calls or fourteen texts from our parents. Assuming this rate, it isn’t hard for any of us to work out the calculations of how frequent will we be receiving these calls once we move away. With college being an extended sleepover over two (seven for some!) thousand miles away, some of us have definitely given a thought to how often will we be voluntarily on Skype with our parents and how often will we be attending their calls of panic?
11. How often do we go out?
Back in high school, we were all victims of either strict parents or a strict schedule. Or even both. Those with not-too stringent parents, who could have gone out, were trying to cope with eleven subjects and excel in seven different fields and those with plans of attending parties at midnight had a home curfew at 8 PM. So going out once a weekend gave us enough a reason to brag about for the next fortnight. Well, the scene’s changed and now that our plans do depend on us, we might be a bit confused about how frequent will we need to plan?
12. How often will I be broke?
Even as freshman with no pre insight into the college life, we do know being broke will be as much part of our college schedule as majoring in XYZ. For some of us international students who would be paying more than half our family income as fees PER annum, fortunately, we don’t even need an insight into the college life to define ourselves as broke *sighs*. So in reference to the previous thought, this is the thought it leads to. The scene’s changed and now with more plans than ever, we’re losing sleep over how negligible (or negative) our savings will be.
13. Will I actually get a fresh start?
All through high-school we lived through our lows with the hope that college will be the ‘getaway’ from our exaggeratedly messed up lives. On the bright side of every not so bright situation, we held on to the fact that we could all ‘leave this behind’ in sometime and get another chance to ‘rediscover’ ourselves in college. Like a clean slate…
It really is all you make it to be. Which is why this may be the most important question of all…
Most freshmen think that a change of lifestyle would be a change of life. We’re so overwhelmed by the new cities, new people, new culture, we ignore that the fact that it’s still the same us. So, those of us who see college as a chance to start afresh, how long will we really hold on to the clean slate or will it be as they say, “High School Never Ends”?
It wouldn’t be too difficult to carry on with this list but despite the never ending thoughts which cross a freshman’s mind, there is one in particular which we don’t seem to worry about…
Are we headed for the best time in our lives?
Definitely, maybe.
