Freshman Year in a Nutshell

Freshman year of college; a time that teenagers wait their entire lives for. A new chapter in your life is about to begin. For me, there were so many emotions going through my mind– excited, nervous, curious, and even sad to leave home. I had so many expectations for what my year to come would endure. I guess you can say I wanted to ~thrive~.

Lets start from the beginning. I only knew about 2 or 3 people going to the same college as me, however, I did not totally mind this because I was eager to meet completely new people and start the year off fresh.

Fast forward to September. One month of school has already gone by. There was so much I had already experienced, tailgating a football game, getting lost on campus as I tried to find the way back to my dorm, lectures with 300+ students, and so much more. I know what you’re thinking, I had an amazing freshman year; all smooth and perfect. Im not going to lie–my freshman year was amazing–but it was far from smooth and perfect.

There were many times where I felt lonely, even though I had made such amazing friends. There were also times where I felt unmotivated as school was much more challenging than I had anticipated. Sorority recruitment was both emotionally and physically draining. And finally, there were issues amongst friend groups which I’m sure everyone experiences.

Fast forward again to winter break, sorority recruitment has begun. Now, I can honestly say that this was a week of hell, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit! 22 houses to visit, about 10 each day. Can you say tiring? Recruitment was rough because not only was my anxiety at an all time high, there were many decisions to be made about the houses you can picture yourself in. Although I had a pretty good rush experience, many of my friends and peers did not. Being the way that I am, I comforted everyone to the best of my abilities. Saying “everything happens for a reason” or “your decision just got a whole lot easier” or things along those lines. If there’s one piece of advice that I can share about recruitment, it would be the cheesy line of “trust the process”. I did not believe it while going through recruitment, but looking back on this experience, I can honestly say that I now trust the process and see the positive outcome that resulted for everyone (even if I didn’t believe it at the time).

Next came spring. This was a very low point for me. There was a lot of drama, and if you know me you know how I H A T E drama. I do not like being involved and always am the neutral party or, for lack of better terms, the moderator. However, in this case, I was involved. This was new for me since I had never been in the middle of an issue so strong before. I’m not going to go much in depth about this, but the basis was that I felt alone, bullied, and actually had thoughts of transferring. I was completely miserable and did not know how I was going to finish out the year. I felt as everyone had turned on me. Thankfully, everything was worked out and these same people are who I consider my best college friends to this day.

Looking back on this low point, I am actually grateful that it had happened. Obviously it was so not enjoyable, but it made me learn my true values in life and in friendships or relationships. I had matured throughout this experience and it has made me grow into a young adult who appreciates the little things in life. This has taught me to be friends with the people who make you a better person, no matter the status or reputation ones can obtain. I am thankful for learning these values so soon in life, and now it is my job to pass them on to others.

My freshman year was definitely a roller coaster. But, I would not change anything for the world. I am completely in love with my school, Indiana University. I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I had transferred but I can honestly say that it would have been one of my biggest regrets in life so far. Nobody’s freshman year is 100% perfect and meets all prior expectations. But if there are a few pieces of advice I can give about freshman year of college, they would be:

Go out of your comfort zone and do things that excite you. This will keep your life interesting and always leave you wanting more.Be kind to everyone, even those not kind to you. This is such an important skill to have because it makes you an admirable individual and people will definitely notice this quality.Become involved. If you decide to go to a larger school, or even a small one too, find clubs or activities to join. These help make the campus so much smaller and feel like a tight- knit community. It is such a great way to meet people– especially those interested in similar things as you!

I hope you all enjoyed my first post!

xo,

D