Expectations VS. Reality: Freshman Year

Aw, it's your freshman year? So young. So naive...

1. Your dorm room

That magical feeling of "living on your own!"

Expectation:

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"Everything will be cute and organized and match-y and it will be just like on TV and it will be PERFECT!"

Reality:

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"Ain't nobody got time for that."

Between classes, work, social events, etc, you will have NO time to keep your room clean. Get used to halfheartedly kicking things out of the way.

2. Your roommate/hallmates

Take a bunch of strangers, cram them in a building... what could go wrong?

Expectation:

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"We're all gonna be BFFs! Slumber parties, movie nights, we'll go out together- it's gonna be TOTALLY AWESOME!"

Reality:

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"EVERYONE IS WE-E-E-IRDDDDD."

For real though, you'll find a group. Whether it's people in your dorm, kids in your classes, or members of a club you join, you'll find a niche. But, for the most part, EVERYONE IS WE-E-E-IRDDDDD.

And all I can say is GOOD LUCK with your roommate. It can be great or it can be a horror story. May the odds be in your favor.

3. Your classes

Yay! You get to learn about what YOU want to learn about! (HAHAHA)

Expectation:

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"I'll love this class!!! And only fifty minutes long? That's nothing!"

Reality:

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"Eight a.m. sociology lecture? SCREW THAT! Not like I need that class anyways." *snooze button x 15*

You will very quickly find yourself contemplating a class's "skipability factor." It just happens. If you're super disciplined, you'll be able to keep your ass in line, but it's oh-so easy to find yourself thinking "I could go to that boring class or I could take a nap...... Hm."

4. Studying

If you even bother to buy your textbooks, that is.

Expectation:

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"OKAY! I will highlight my books, make notecards, go to the library, type up a study guide, read my notes, find a study group, do practice tests- A+, here I come!"

Reality:

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"SHIT, test tomorrow. Better skim my notes.... what? Oh, I wrote a few points and then doodled a chicken in a bowler hat. Um, oops."

Studying fucking sucks. It is an undeniable fact. And unless you're an uber-student who's perfectly disciplined, cramming happens. Hell, it happens for uber-students, too. Your first all-nighter is a shock- and it will not be your last.

5. Sleeping

Self-inflicted insomnia. It's a thing.

Expectation:

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"Well, it's college, so I'll need a full eight hours. If I have class at nine, I'll get up at seven, so I'll go to bed at eleven! Alright!"

Reality:

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"Ah, damn. It's 2:15 a.m. I should sleep... HAHA nope. Netflix it is!"

With no parents breathing down your neck and no immediate consequences for over-sleeping, it's easy to blow off bedtime. "The Office" is just so much more entertaining that sleeping, after all. And, I mean, what are coffee/Mountain Dew/Five Hour Energy for? Waking up students who browsed Tumblr until three a.m. Obviously.

6. Exercise

Freshman Fifteen? That's not really a thing, right?

Expectation:

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"I'll get up at 5:30 to run, and then I'll run after class, and I'll go to the gym every weekend and it will be awesome! Six pack, here I come!"

Reality:

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"Exercise? Umm... I'll get to that tomorrow. This weekend... Fine, next week. (Never)."

Like studying, exercise (for the most part) fucking sucks. No matter how good it is for you or how much you want that beach body, it is SO FREAKING HARD to work up the motivation. There will be athletes and health nuts and other otherwise-motivated people who will boogie on down to the gym on a regular basis, but us regular folks? It's enough of an effort to drag ourselves up the dorm stairs after a full day of classes.

And, come on: walking to class counts as exercise, right?

7. Weekends

No more parents, no more curfew- let's do this.

Expectation:

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PARTY TIME!!!

Reality:

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Chips? Check. Sweatpants? Check. Marathon of "The Walking Dead?" Check-a-rooni.

Yes, there will be those who get all dolled up and head on town to the bars and clubs four out of seven nights a week. But that's so much effort.

8. Finals:

What do you mean it's 30% of our grade???

Expectation:

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"I can do this! I took notes, I'll read my textbooks, I'll go to the library, I'll do everything a good student does! I have two weeks to prepare- that's more than enough time!"

Reality:

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"DANGIT finals are in two weeks. Wait- I was taking geography? Shit. And my calc notes... well, there's a scrap of a formula. And then a dinosaur eating my roommate. Welp, I'll just wing it."

Haha, this goes along with studying for the most part. They really do sneak up on you, though!

9. Football games

Saturdays are what college students LIVE for.

Expectation:

Via google.com

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Reality:

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WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

If you go to a state school (or any other school with an active football team) you know how much of a big deal games are- and how crazy fans can get. It's a remarkable phenomenon- and can be a hell of a lot of fun.

(That's the "Georgia Joker," from UGA).