August is officially in full swing!
For most of you that means its time to hit the books once again and for a select few of you it means you have either already or are about to embark on one of the most exciting, scary and unique phase in your life.
COLLEGE!!!
College is definitely a HUGE step in anyones life if they choose to go. Lets be honest you have probably been waiting for the day you could get out of mommy and daddies house and finally be free for the last 4 years.
However with great reward comes great responsibility and as with any new experience in life it comes with a lot of questions. Trust me...I know. I wish I would have know even 1/4 of what I knew by the end of my freshman year of college before I went. It would have made the transition from little high school student to big college kid a lot easier.
Lucky for you guys...you have me to give you a little bit of the dish on things that you need to be up on in your first year of college...and a little dose of honesty and the ish those college recruiters and info session won't tell you *side eye*
5 Things I Wish I Would Have Known About College
1. No One Really Knows What They Are Doing
People pack up mom and dads car and head off into the sunset thinking that they have conquered the world of high school and have everything about life all figured out.
Reality check in 5...4...3...2..
Yeaaaaaa No
Trust me when you get to college you really see that you actually don't have anything figured out. Being in a new place often times in a new city, with loads of people from different backgrounds, social classes, ethnicities and even sometimes countries is a pretty good way to realize you may not know as much as you think you did and help you see that not everyone is exactly like you.
And unfortunately college kind of gives you this false sense of adult hood, like that just going automatically makes you a grown up.
Nah Bruh...aint no grown up yet bihh LMAO
You will get it figured out...eventually...kinda but no gold stars just for going lol
2. The Book Store Is A Rip Off
DON'T GO THERE!!
DON'T DO IT!
I have seen many a college student go broke (including myself) effin with that damn book store. I honestly remember one year contemplating taking out a loan just to get my books.
School bookstores jack up their book prices sky high because they know that students will come to them to get books. I swear they the universities have a meeting with teachers so they can pick the most expensive books needed for a course. Then go meet with the book store ppl and mark up the cost 1000% and instruct them to only sell new books in the wrapper just to be able to get top dollar. As if 40,000+ a year isn't enough to pay for school they want you to go bankrupt on books.
Oh and don't even get me started on how the teachers tell you you need the book by the next class so you have no option but to go to the book store *side eye* Its like a game. Having you out here struggling to afford a slice of pizza.
FYI 75% of the book you get will never even be opened in class Its like a game they play.
Take it from me as soon as you get the book listing hop on your computer and go to CHEGG or BELLTOWER BOOKS and order your books online. Take the L for the first week of classes while they get shipped to you and save yourself 1,000's.
And if your looking for extra money at the end of the semester, NEVER SELL YOUR BOOKS TO THE BOOK STORE...sell your books back to belltower (they give good money for books) and or become a book buyer for Belltower books. I was a Belltower book buyer my last two years of school and made BANK each semester.
3. Take FULL Advantage Of Opportunities/ Get Involved
Do NOT go to college and play the whole "I'm too cool for school" card or the "I don't do school activities" thing...it was barely cute when you were a senior in high school and its def not cute in college.
The biggest mistake I made in college was not doing enough, my school offered opportunities to travel abroad, to take part in community groups, politics, school offices (to where you pretty much ran the school), arts, traveling teams, sports, greek life, the opportunities were honestly endless. There is honestly a club, team or committee for everything and if you don't find something you like.
CREATE YOUR OWN!
I did get involved in sports briefly and joined a few groups that work to improve race relations on our campus and those around it, I also dabbled in greek life. However there was so much more I could have done. I personally wish I would have studied abroad but I was too afraid to travel alone and I was a little too wrapped up in "boy drama" to focus on all the other amazingness that was just dancing in front of my face.
Point being...DO SHIT!
LIVE and EXPERIENCE!
4. You're Going To Get Home Sick
As much as you have wanted to get away from those people that birthed you for the past 18 years. Being away from home isn't as easy as it seems. Being in a new place without any actual comforts of home (mom, dad, best friends, dog, goldfish etc) can be a lot harder & more stressful that it seems and lets be honest...
You ain't no thug bihh
LMAO
But no really, unless you have been to boarding school or are used to going to summer camp. There isn't really any experience quite like leaving behind everything and every one you know for 4 years. Yes you get breaks and there are holidays but its just different and after the "new place, new things" feelings wear off your going to be missing a lot of what you were so ready to leave.
The best thing to do is keep in touch with the things back home and don't ever feel ashamed if you want to call mommy when something goes wrong.
5. First Year Relationships/Friendships Are A Joke
(bitches are still petty)
BRUH!
I CANT EVEN BEGIN....chile...
I need a separate blog post just to handle this topic alone. Lol, what I will say is that everything that glitters ain't gold.
NOT EVEN CLOSE
Now I won't say that all relationships and first year friendships are a joke but though personal experience and those of friends they are not all they are cracked up to be. Maybe it the fact that we want so bad to build with the people that we are around, like our roommates who we don't know from a can of paint but after 2 days are treating like our sister from another Mister. Or maybe its that we are desperately looking for connection to feel comfortable and loved or even at home again that that guy who asks us if we want to study together winds up being our first hook up and one true love...that ultimately crashes and burns a few months later at a frat party when you catch him in bed with another girl... (not a true story...not mine at least)
Look I'm just saying take your time, we all want to make quick friend and bond with those around us but you didn't make best friends or boyfriends over night back home so college should be no different. Look for relationships that will last...not relationships you won't remember or will be trying to forget next year.
Bonus...Chill out Bruh
No explanation necessary...dont get so stressed...just chill.
I hope this helps all my little soon to be blossoming college flowers to feel a little more comfortable and prepared for this new big step!
Already graduated? What are some things you wish you would have known about college? Leave it in the comments below! If your going to college what are you most excited about experiencing? Let me know in the comments below!
Until Next Time,
XO Deanna
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