The night before I left for college, I laid in bed wide awake worrying about all the things to come, like; how was I going to find my way around campus, how was I going to meet new people, were my roommate and I going to get along, are my classes going to be hard, am I going to miss my home, and how am I going to survive on my own? These were just some of the questions that were consistently popping into my head.

Finally, the morning came and next thing I knew I was at college. When I arrived, it was so hectic; everyone unloading the cars and setting up their rooms. With all this chaos going on, my initial fears were suppressed. They didn’t come back until I said goodbye to my parents and I was finally on my own. As I walked up to my dorm room I saw groups of people laughing and talking with each other as if they had been friends for years. I’ve never felt so alone and wondered how I was going to fit in.

Luckily, my room was all set up to make me feel more at ease and when I got there I sat down to relax. It was then time for our first hall meeting, and I first began to realize that college wasn’t so bad after all. Most of the people on my floor were in the same position as I was in and were really open to meeting other people. My RA answered any questions that we had about classes and whatever else, which made me feel more confident for the first day for classes. My fears quickly began to fade away. The first week there was always so many activates going on for Freshmen to meet other people and feel their way around campus.

The first day of classes, I soon realized, wasn’t so bad either. The teachers were pretty understanding of new students and the class work didn’t seem as hard if you put in enough effort for it.

I was also glad that I didn’t give up and end up going home the first weekends of college. During those first initial weekends I met so many people and found a great group of friends.

Now, I reflect and realize that college has been the time of my life. Even though it was a little over whelming at first, if you give it some time, you will realize too how great of a place it truly is.

Fondly, Lola

Living with someone new is always tough, especially that first year of college. We’ve all heard the horror stories from someone and their first random college roommate, but is it really that bad?

I think moving off to college and living with someone completely random is all part of the adventure in going off to college. It’s an important step in growing up away from the comfort of your home. It’s easy to live with someone you know or went to high school with, but what’s the fun in that? Living with someone new brings on the opportunity to experience unfamiliar things and potentially a new best friend. Of course, some times it doesn’t work out, but years down the road you’ll be able to look back and laugh at how weird your first college roommate was. I say pass up the comfort of living with one of your friends, and start college with something new by living with a complete stranger.