All the mistakes you’ll inevitably make freshman year

Ah yes, the awkward transition from being a senior back to being a freshman. Once again, we are the runts of the litter without a clue as to how college life actually works. Thankfully, as time passes, we’re now realizing some of the mistakes we all inevitably made. Here are just a few of the things us freshmen are bound to do wrong.

Thinking that we need to spend hours and hours on each classes’ assignments

In college, efficiency is necessary. Spending a prolonged amount of time on assignments doesn’t guarantee a good grade or GPA. In the beginning of freshmen year we spent stupid amounts of time on reading assignments, studying, and basically everything else. We sat in our dorms and crammed away all night long. Slowly, however, we realized that there’s a much better way of doing things. Loopholes and shortcuts help us in both getting our work done and leaving time for (mostly) everything else. If only we knew that before, but unfortunately we can’t get those late-night hours back.

You know you were here at some point.

Going out every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, AND Saturday

If your did your math correctly, this leaves 3 days left in the week to do things such as homework, relaxing, or simply sleeping. It may have seemed fun in the beginning, but before we knew it our bodies started to shut down and begged us to actually do something productive. But no worries, Friday and Saturday will always be there for us!

Leaving behind any source of warmth or cover when going out

This one may seem like a no brainer. If its raining, bring a rain jacket or umbrella. If it’s cold, bring a thicker jacket. If its snowing, well, you know the drill. We’re really wondering why we thought it was a smart idea to go out without any kind of protection from the weather just because we don’t want to worry about carrying them. Little did we know its normal to carry around a jacket, and it’s also necessary if we want to avoid hypothermia.

Before…

…and after.

Trying to become someone we’re not

Freshman year  is a time for finding ourselves and figuring out exactly who we are. With all different kinds of people swirling around us, it was easy to get wrapped up in all of this hype and try to alter ourselves in order to be like someone we may have seen as better than us. After some time, we learned that the best route to choose is to simply be ourselves and not be afraid to show it. Happiness is key and embracing who you really, truly are will get you there!

Be yourself and have fun!

Thinking that participation doesn’t really matter

In high school, participation was usually the extra few points everyone got in class, as long as you show up. When professors say participation matters, they mean it. In the beginning of freshman year we all had this glorified idea that we didn’t need to put any effort into our small-scale classes. We ended up being hit with the harsh reality that participation is necessary. Time to shape up and learn how to talk publicly.

Waiting until the very last minute, for everything

Whether it’s for homework, studying, or deciding where to go out and when, freshmen are pros at making the mistake of waiting until the very last minute. We liked to tell ourselves that we work better after procrastinating until our grades started dropping and our sleep schedules could not get back to normal, and we thought we could wing all of our plans until our weekends were filled with just staying in our buildings instead. Timing is key when it comes to everything in college. A lesson well learned!

Guilty as charged.

As we near the halfway point of our first year in college, we’re learning what is acceptable and what’s not– slowly, but surely.