What I learned my freshman year

Just because high school started at 7:30 am does not mean you’ll be able to wake up for your 8 am

I remember when I was first looking at my classes for fall semester and a couple of them started at 8 am. After high school forced me to wake up at 6 am, I thought ‘how bad could this be?’ My mom and dad warned me before I enrolled in classes that they shouldn’t begin before the crack of dawn. My roommate had 8 am’s both semesters and there have been many mornings when I wake up and still see her in bed after her class has already ended.

Then again, this is much more appealing than my economics homework

Netflix has an auto-play next episode feature?!

Before I had hours of spare time on my hands, I was unaware that Netflix sucks you into watching an entire season of a show in one day without making you even click a button. Who would have thought American Horror Story could be so effective at preventing me from being a productive member of society?

Housing appointments are more stressful than finals

I was not mentally prepared for the anguish I would endure when I got 3534 as my priority number. Watching all of the available dorms in Southwest dwindle down to five or six rooms at the top of JQA minutes before my appointment began was heartbreaking. Sorry to the people in the 4000’s and up. . . I hope Sylvan treats you well.

No one cares what you wear

As depressing as this may sound, it’s a good thing! With over 20,000 people going to class, chances are that no one is looking to see if you have your life together on a Monday morning. Feel free to break out those sweatpants and neglect the makeup. I’ll be right there with you.

Let it be known that I was not as happy as I appear in this picture to be walking to class in the SNOW in APRIL

Yay for shitty Wi-Fi

You would think that the Wi-Fi at such a large school would have to be somewhat decent. . . right? Wrong. There’s nothing like procrastinating on an assignment that’s worth 40 percent of your grade until the night before only to find out that eduroam is not willing to cooperate. I can assure you, its a great time. You definitely won’t be ready to throw your laptop at the wall.

Dining dollars are sacred, please use them wisely

To the people that have $500 dining dollars, I envy you. My $250 went a lot faster than I expected. Especially when you live on the hill and Sweets and More always sounds like a good idea. Even if it’s not part of your routine, I recommend trying it once. Walking up the hill won’t kill you and the milkshakes make a pretty nice reward for all of that exercise. And don’t even get me started on the smoothies from the gym. They are the only way I can motivate myself to exercise.

My weekly trips to get a bagel and a Snapple are actually becoming a problem

Yik Yak and Spongebob memes are cool again?

‘Cool’ is a very loose term here, but somehow these things make a comeback when you get to campus. Yik Yak had its fifteen minutes of fame in high school until it got banned because kids used it for bullying. I didn’t expect to see it ever again. As for the Spongebob memes. . . I still don’t really understand that.

Being in class with 200 or more people is better than I was expecting

If you’re like me and get nauseous at the thought of presentations or answering questions, you’re in luck. Don’t worry about it because your professor teaches multiple classes with least 300 students and will not know who you are. And if this sounds nothing like you, then I’m sure you’ll find a way to make yourself known.