College Life: Catching Up

Wow, I wonder where this is.

Rewind back to four years ago, I’d think of the word “college” and imagine brick walls, lots of trees, and the cool, breezy air of “Wow, I feel so independent right now!!!” Fast-forward four years later, I think of the word “college” and I imagine damp, sweaty sneakers, soreness in my calves, and the sweltering air of “Why the hell does this campus have to be so large?”

I feel so disillusioned. (jk)

I’ve been living at my college—or university, if I want to be specific—for about three weeks now, and though I had expected to have a hard time adjusting to this place, I’ve actually had a quite comfortable transition from home to dorm hall. I met new people, befriended some, and smiled at people when I had the opportunity, the latter I've found to be a very important gesture in college.

But granted, my first two weeks had absolutely hot, skin-biting weather. Yes, skin-biting—I felt like the sun was biting my arms and legs. By the time I had gone home for the first weekend, my skin tone, undoubtedly, turned two shades darker. And, not to mention, I acquired an embarrassing shorts tan. My mom was like, “You look tanner than your dad!” and my dad is a handyman; he works outside a lot. :( Thankfully my skin hasn’t gotten any tanner; I don't want to look any more charred than I already am now.

Anyway, so far, college feels like going to camp, because I go home every weekend, LOL. Yeah, I forgot to mention that my college is only about twenty to thirty minutes away from home. Though that doesn’t entitle me to a “homesick free” card or anything; I did still feel a bit homesick the first week. I don’t feel as homesick anymore, but curiously I do feel homesick on Sundays when I leave home to drive back to college. Sundays are always a little bit gloomy to me. But then again, Sundays have been always a bit gloomy to me ever since I started participating in the damn education system.

By the way, college life also, unsurprisingly, is nothing like how I've seen it portrayed in TV or movies. Because in reality, there's homework to do. RADICAL, ISN'T IT?! And, people actually have to study sometimes!!

Trippy.

But putting that aside, college is different from high school. Most people aren't present in class because they have to be; they're present because they choose to be. I think that is the most distinguishable difference between college (especially university) and high school environments. Classes are equivalent to money now, and to skip class is to see a little more than $100 go bye-bye. Yikes. I also noticed a slight difference in respect in the classroom. I can't say that all students are respectful in the classroom, but a lot of them actively participate, or are at least visibly attentive, which is cool to see. I’ve always been so used to people being rather apathetic towards learning.

Moving on to the workload, the workload this quarter is definitely lighter than what I had in high school. Like whaaaat. Yeah, I definitely have way too much time these days, despite the fact I’m taking the full 16 units. I didn’t have to take a freshman math course because of my AP credit, and since my intended major is Journalism, I don’t have any other required math courses to take either. So… I’M DONE WITH MATH FOR LIFE! Holla. 

YAAAS (I'm watching Mr. Robot at the moment, FYI)

I definitely think my classes next quarter will keep me busier, but until then, I’ll be enjoying my first quarter.

Regarding the dorms, it’s a lot nicer living in the dorms than I thought. Maybe I’m biased because of the “brick wall” aesthetic it has, but nonetheless, my dorm hall is rather pleasant. A family friend’s son who goes to my college as well (he’s a commuter) had told my mom that the dorms sucked like hell, but I have to disagree. The only thing that sucks is the communal bathroom, but really, I’m only in there for at most twenty minutes at a time. Though I won’t lie, the showers are pretty gross sometimes. Some common thoughts I have when I go take a shower:

      1. What’s that black speck on the shower floor?
      2. Would it kill you to pick up your strands of hair lying on the floor?

      3. Okay, the faster I shower, the faster I can get out of here.

      4. Holy shit, this water is cold.

      5. This water isn't getting any warmer.
      6. FUNGUS

But despite everything I’ve just discussed, the one thing I really want to highlight from my time in the dorms: pooping. I’ve decided that I want to write a separate blog post about pooping in college, so I won’t go into details about it in this post. But the general psychology behind pooping in college is interesting. Very interesting.

To wrap up this post, there are three things I learned from dorming. First, smile and say hi, at least to dormmates. Everyone likes smiles and hellos. Second, hold on to your dorm room key as if it were the cure to cancer. And third, bananas are the best college breakfast. I rest my case.

Pic of the brick wall aesthetic from my Instagram.