Things Every Freshman Experiences And How To Handle Them
The freshman experience is truly one for the books. Most of us are a new eighteen, its the first time we have been away from our parents, and we’re expected to actually have our lives together. If you’re going to FSU, you have to deal with the temptations of a party school calling you out every weekend, and at 9am before noon games, and I think you get the point. It’s a lot, and the feeling can be incredibly overwhelming. There’s so much you will go through as a freshman and, maybe, these are things that you are still going through as juniors and seniors. In these cases, it’s best to be aware of the things you will likely see and feel when you come to college and how exactly to go about dealing with them during our freshman experience. I’m sure these could all be articles of their own, but for your convenience, you can find them all here.
1. A bad roommate
Whether they blast screamo while you’re sleeping, borrow your clothes without asking, or eat all of your food, there are a couple different versions of what we could define as a bad roommate. Maybe you wouldn’t even call this a “bad roommate,” just annoying. Either way, the best way to deal with a roommate that is crossing boundaries or doing things that you are not okay with is to talk to them. Simple, I know, but when it’s someone you don’t know the idea of confronting them can be difficult. However, the best way to change things is to talk to them kindly and honestly. If they choose to ignore you, please don’t explode. Trust me, I have almost done it. Instead, try leaving them notes as friendly reminds. For example, ” “As a friendly reminder, please remember to clean your dishes after using them so they don’t clutter the sink.” If this still doesn’t work, you may have to speak to your RA.
2. Feelings of judgment
We are constantly making judgments, whether they are good or bad, they’re judgments just the same. Why does this warrant a place on the list? Honestly, I am very tired of bad judgment being passed onto me; it became way too time consuming for me to think about all of it. I found that the people who were supposed to be the most understanding and have my back were the people who I felt the most judgment from. Maybe this is something you feel to, whether it’s about your choices, your looks, your major, your job, anything. I came to a conclusion that I think I can finally live with: They don’t know my life; therefore, they are allowed to paint any image they want of it–what they think of me is none of my business. It’s hard to come to terms with because we want people to understand us, but sometimes they never can.
3. Wanting friends
A key part of the freshman experience is making friends, a concept very foreign to me. I’m just joking, it’s not that bad, but it is something I struggled with at first and I have a feeling I am not the only one. The best thing about college is that there are so many people that is it impossible not to find friends. In fact, I think there may be more effort involved in not finding friends than actually finding them. Start by attending the involvement fair, which is an event held by FSU for students to find all the organizations and actually get to talk to them all in one place. This is the perfect place to start because you can find people just like you and make friends through your involvement in the organization. Also, attend university events, you are sure to find people there, it’s as easy as bumping into someone while eating ice cream at the President’s Ice Cream Social and becoming best friends for the rest of college and beyond.
4. Feelings of missing out
If you cant tell, I am trying very hard not to say the acronym “FOMO” because of my deep-seated dislike for the over usage of the word in high school. Every weekend college students are bombarded by Spachat stories of people who went out that night. This is most overwhelming during our freshman experience when we are trying to fit in and have fun. And when you are sitting in your pajamas studying and eating ice cream, it’s not hard to wish that you had gone out instead. Or maybe some of you would prefer a night in like that. Either way, there is constantly images and videos being posted of people going to games, havings a girl’s movie night, going to the fair, or even riding the bull at Stetson’s. Suddenly, you are bombarded by the feeling that you are so lame and that you should have just gone with your friends and then you wouldn’t feel so left out. Stop.
I had a friend who posted every time she went out my freshman year, she still does this, in fact. I would feel so bad that I didn’t go with her to be dancing and dressed up When she would talk to me about her night out, later on, she told me how awful it was, that there was no one there, and some guy kept hitting on her and she couldn’t get away from him. I was actually happy that I didn’t go. The pint here is that she didn’t even have a good time but she posted it to fit in and show she was doing something. you don’t have to be doing something all the time. If you are happy in your current state of messy hair and pajamas, then don’t regret your choice.
5. Being unsure of your major
I heard a statistic once that college students, on average, will change their major five times. Did I fact check this, no. But I am inclined to believe it because, why wouldn’t we? Changing our major is part of the freshman experience. We are young and trying to make sense of the things we want out of life and what we would actually be happy doing for the next 45 years. I have changed my major three times and it took me really being honest with myself and letting go of everyone else’s expectations of me. If you are currently exploratory or are unsure of your major, what I say next may help in your decision.
I am the first person to go to college in my family, I felt an intense pressure to be successful. So successful in fact that I planned to become a psychologist. Everyone knew I wasn’t doing the right for myself and they were very honest about this. But I was in college and I wanted to make my family proud, I wanted to prove it was worth all I had done. When I really thought about it, I knew I wasn’t going to be happy. In time, I allowed myself to be truly honest with myself, about what I actually wanted for my life. I decided to become an English major and maybe I won’t be a doctor, but I’ll be happy with my decision. I urge you to be honest about what you want, and not what others want to see from you.
6. Homesickness
We all get incredible homesickness as freshmen. I can assure you it gets a little better in time. Coping with it now is a little more difficult now though during your freshman experience. Despite what you may think, making frequent visits home are not the best way to help with it. You may actually be making it worse. Instead, I recommend talking to your family as much as you feel necessary and maybe keeping photos of them up in your room to help them feel close to you. Also, don’t dwell in your homesickness and sit in your dorm waiting for the holidays. Distract yourself and delve yourself into your life in college. When you are out having fun, participating in school events or going out with friends, you begin to understand why you made this decision. You can have a life at FSU and at home, you simply have to allow yourself to.
