I couldn’t wait to attend college. No more 8 hour days of going from class to class Monday through Friday like high school. And you get to choose your own classes and class times? What’s not to love about that?!

I thought college was going to be a non-stop party scene. Thought it was going to be a place where I would flourish and become the person I’m meant to be, and that it would be easy to make friends and get that college degree. But that’s not really the case. Not at all actually.

Expectations for what college would be like is influenced by movies such as: Accepted, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, and Legally Blonde.

Most students expected to step on campus and get drowned in the liveliness of the other students all the time. But that really depends on the time of day and if there are any school activities going on at that moment.

College is what you make it. I never had the time or energy to attend football games, or pep rallys, or even join a club. I attended class, occassionally spent some time in the library, and then left campus.

Many college students like myself have jobs, therefore their intention when attending school is just to get in and then get out as quickly as they can. Unlike high school, students are not forced to attend pep rallys or required to attend the school play. So, that cuts out the major components of meeting new people and building that social status.

And who knew that there would be so much homework? Well, maybe it only seems like there’s a lot because I’ve waited last minute to do it. There’s a lot of time management that you need for college. Yes, you can choose your own class times and when your class meets but you also have to make yourself put in the work for it. Taking classes M/W or T/R makes you feel like you have that extra time to get homework done or do a quick read of the textbook, but you don’t. Especially when like myself you have work on the days you don’t have school.

Well, I am making it a point this semester to attend at least one sports function, join at least one campus club, and attend a school play. I will make myself do homework when it is assigned so that I don’t have to worry about it later. And I will make at least one friend in all of my classes. You can’t get the full college experience if you don’t make an effort to make it a priority.