What I learned during my first year of college

There are many things you learn in your first year of college, such as time management and how to write a paper on a book you forgot to read. My most important lessons, however, were learned in the classroom of life.

Vanilla coffee is a lot cheaper than a vanilla latte

If you know anything about college then you know that caffeine is an essential. You stayed up until 2 AM writing a paper and you have to get up for your 8 AM class the next day. Unless you want to be a walking zombie, or worse fall asleep in lecture, you must caffeinate.

As an unashamed white girl, I do love my venti iced skinny vanilla latte as much as the next white girl. However, I learned rather quickly that my budget could not afford spending $5 on a drink every morning. My not-so-secret secret is that an iced coffee with vanilla and cream tastes the same to me in my early morning haze and it costs on average $2 less depending on where you go. Start doing this regularly and all of a sudden you feel a lot less poor and you might actually be able to afford one of those adorable overpriced crop tops on University.

Memories are not made at parties

“Hey, you remember that one night where we went to that dark place with the sticky floor and danced to that popular song and talked to a guy who’s name we don’t remember?” Yeah that was great, totally stood out from all the other times that exact same thing happened.

Nope, no thanks. The best memories are the times that you do something different. You are in college to experience life and grow into an adult. Go on adventures, say yes when someone asks you to go somewhere on short notice, you might be surprised at what experiences you have.

If something seems like it’s a really, really good idea at 2 AM, its probably not

This rule seems like common sense, right? It is. But there might be one fateful night when you decide it its a brilliant idea to test the little blue can of pepper spray attached to your key chain. Long story short, if anyone has questions about how to soak your face in milk feel free to ask me.

Talk to your family when you get homesick

There is no question about the fact that I am a homebody. I like staying in my comfort zone and I’m totally cool with just chilling at home. Being from out of state, I am 14 hours away from my family. I learned that while you want be independent, sometimes you don’t have to be. If you feel lonely just pick up the phone and call. Your parents want to hear about everything, even those rough nights where you did something that made you feel really stupid (see above point).

Some people are not meant to cohabit

Before coming to the U of A, I pictured having a roommate that was my first best friend at school. I wanted to be able to share a space that was the perfect home away from home for the both of us. Unfortunately, that was not the case. There are people who were definitely never ever meant to live together. But in the end, its okay, at least there was a lesson learned. I truly believe that if you can handle a rough roommate, then you can handle anything. 

Future Roomie!!

Stand up for yourself

As a self proclaimed weinie, I am terrified of confrontation and would prefer for problems to just fade away. That doesn’t really happen in the real world. If something bothers you, or if you have a problem, you have to say something, because if you don’t you will regret it. In college you have to advocate for yourself, and be your own number one fan, otherwise you will be overlooked and be left wondering were you went wrong.

Surround yourself with good people

There are 40,000 undergraduates at this university, and you get to choose who you spend your time with. I can guarantee you that you will meet people that you think will be your best friends for all time, and you will probably change your opinion. But if there is someone that compromises your character, or really just grinds your gears, you 100% do not have to be around them. Surround yourself with the people that make you laugh, and make you want to be a better person. Choose friends that will hold your hair back on rough nights or even just meet you somewhere so you don’t have to eat lunch alone.