Everything freshmen at UD now understand

Finding your independence takes time

After high school, it’s a whole new world — yes, that is an Aladdin pun. For the first time in who knows how long, we aren’t being told what to do. With such freedom comes great responsibility and yeah, it’s kind of scary.

Your friends, the kids on your floor, and even that one person you see at the gym that’s in your First Year Experience class whose name you can’t remember — they’re all in the same boat as you. We’re making our own decisions. We’re finding the balance between studying and having fun. We’re learning stuff about ourselves we didn’t even know existed. It’s exhilarating and slightly terrifying at the same time, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We’re damn proud of our alumni

Two names that every UD freshman learns are Joe Flacco and Joe Biden, both of whom went to this very school, and we couldn’t be more obsessed.

Every time we get asked about UD, Joe² always find its way into our conversations. With a quarterback and the Vice President of the United States in our corner, we have two more reasons to be damn proud of our school.

We feel an instant connection with them and because we go to their alma mater, it obviously makes us 20x cooler.

Everyone goes through homesickness

Love you fam

UD is our home away from home but, even so, we still find ourselves missing our pets siblings- even the ones who are annoying af. For the first 18 years of your life, you’ve been following the same routine and then it just stops one day. I get it, trust me I’m going through it right now.

The best thing, I’ve learned, is to keep yourself occupied: take a walk around this amazing campus, go to the gym, get ahead on some reading, anything. Call your parents, tell them all about the amazing things you’re doing here and how much you miss them, FaceTime with your friends from home often.

We have to remember this is all new to them too so, it’s key to make sure they don’t miss you too much either.

Get involved

Truth time, it is so not lame to join a club on campus. As a freshman nearing the end her first year, my top priorities have been making new friends and doing well in class.

One of the easiest ways to make friends is to get involved in a club, organization, or a sports team. Here at UD, there’s something for everyone, and that’s what makes this school so amazing! Whether it’s joining a student union, a politically charged organization, or an art club, you’ll soon see that finding people with similar interests as you is easier than you might think.

We’re broke like all the time

Let’s be honest, we all wish money would grow on trees. Okay, technically it does, but you know what I mean. At the end of our first year, we know what it’s like to run out of points, spend copious amounts of money on coffee at the Central Perk and Brew Ha Ha, and find that the money in our bank accounts has somehow magically disappeared.

If we have a job, that money is probably going towards a well deserved shopping trip or a ~fancy~ Starbucks frap because, let’s face it, you deserve to treat yo self (thanks, Tom and Donna from Parks and Rec).

Once a blue hen, always a blue hen

First semester was overwhelming, especially because we thought that we wouldn’t make it but hey, looks like we’re still alive!

Maybe the first semester didn’t go as we planned, but that’s what the next three years are for.  From the moment we stepped foot on campus, we knew that the next four years would be the best ones yet.

Blue and gold is in our blood. Class of 2019, this one’s for you.