My first day of college was the day I look forward to the most. High school graduation had come and gone, and the summer flew by.
The time had come for orientation and to sign up for classes. Initially, this all excited me, and truthfully the thought of being a college student still does.
However, the preconceived notions about college life I once had were out the window. I just knew that I was ready to be a college student, along with the freedom of not having rules, being on my own, making new friends, and staying in touch with the old ones.
My friends who were already in college gave me advice on what to do and what not to do, and with all that in my mind it was time for me to make my mark at Florida A&M.
It was not until about a week or so after the first week of school that it finally dawned on me, this is a lot harder than I thought.
The thought of a ‘workload’ never crossed my mind. I am positive it did when my high school teachers reminded me of it, but I never imagined having to structure my own work schedule.
The crazy thing is that many of us, including me, thought high school had its moments. It was a breeze at times and others it was way too difficult.
It makes sense to me now when teachers and parents say that college is nothing to play with. One wrong move and it could be the end of your college career.
College is not meant to scare us. It is meant to make us more equipped to get jobs in the ‘real’ world. Walking the hallowed halls of academia is a trial and error process.
The thing about college that confuses me most is the idea and execution of prioritizing work and social life. It was not that hard to choose-getting an ‘A’ on the test makes it all worth it.
Most of what I heard before I got to college was probably the same thing many other freshmen heard. You cannot fully judge your experience and expectations on that of other college students that came before you. Neither can prospective students after you make judgments based on your experience and expectations.
I have noticed so far that this experience of the college life is what we make it. Not what someone else chose to make theirs’.
Do not get me wrong, the advice others give as well as the advice we will give can potentially help someone out. But in all honesty, college is nothing any one expects it to be-maybe in movies, but not in reality.