What they don’t tell you: the worst bits of the “best years of your life”

by Hannah French, JIF Fellow '14

Hannah (far right) and friends posing with the University of Michigan stormtrooper.

There are plenty of college tips, tricks, novels, and videos out there. Why read this? Well, for one, it’s free. Also, it’s short, and I don’t attempt to universalize the college experience. What follows is what I have experienced, that I’ve heard about other people simultaneously experiencing. Yes, college is great and you should definitely be excited. But also be prepared for its nasty sides. Because it isn’t all fun and games anymore. This is the real deal. This is college. Here are some things you should know:

1. Your sleep schedule will fluctuate more than ever before. One night there’s a party, the next you’re sick, the next you have homework, now it’s the weekend, then you’re exhausted….4am, 10pm, 2am, 3am... and after each of these nights you wake up at different times. That’s not fun! It totally throws off your circadian rhythms. I’d say try to keep it steady but...it happens. So just be warned.
2. Your roommate will be messy, loud, and unpredictable. No matter what--or who. It’s because we don’t notice our own messes, right? We notice theirs. And if they sleep at different times than you (see #1), then they’ll keep you up or wake you up sometimes, or a lot. Also sometimes you are alone and so you start changing or pulling awkward dance moves and then they walk in.
3. The loneliness is real. For the first few months, at least, you’re without family and the close friends who you’ve known forever, in an unfamiliar setting with strangers all around. You will never have privacy, and the only times you will be alone is when you’re in public. In other words, when you’re going to classes or coffee shops. To return home is to return to your dorm, full of people and your roommate (see #1… again).
4. The freshman 15 is a bustable myth. Here are some things I’ve noticed that I believe all contribute to this bugger: sleep, diet, eating time, eating often, alcohol, dorm food. Getting enough sleep, and standardizing your sleep schedule, are crucial. When you’re tired, you eat more food, and when your sleep schedule is off, you eat at weird times--like 3am, which you definitely should not do. You also eat more often, because you’re constantly surrounded by food. And that food is often junk food, or dorm food, which is probably similarly unhealthy. Finally, alcohol. Yes, alcohol will give you a beer belly if you go hard.
   
5. Being an adult means doing your dishes, laundry, and taxes. Maybe not that last one. But even if you’ve done these things before, have you done them in a communal sink while fighting over a dirty sponge? I think not. Also, hand-washing (clothing) is just not a thing in college. Please don’t bring those clothes, or if you do, bring them home to wash them. Some things can’t go in the dryer or else you’ll ruin them--those are very annoying things to wear. Your sheets--wash them occasionally. You could honest to god let the bed bugs bite if you don’t. 
6. There is no “slack-off” class. Sure, there are electives, minicourses, courses for “non-majors,” and the whole shebang. But these classes are graded the same way your harder classes are. You can put them lower on the priority list, but you shouldn’t discount them, BS them, or whip something out last minute unless you have to. Because you will get a low grade, and it can hurt to do badly in a class that’s so “easy.”
7. Student orgs are your friend--and your friends. You need to get involved. For one, it gets you out of your desk chair at night and involved in the community. It gives you a life. It also gives you friends. Friends in college are the people that you’re forced to be with most often, whether in classes or student orgs. It’s very hard to hold onto people that you met once and never cross paths with, even if you think you have great potential. So student orgs are critical. 
8. Studying is the new hanging out. In college, it’s very hard to balance your time, because your classes and meetings are stretched out over the course of an entire day. So if you want to hang out with someone, invite them to something you’re already doing. It’s a two birds with one stone situation. Since you’ll be doing a lot of studying, do it together. You can help keep each other on track (or, more likely, take “study breaks”).
9. You WILL get sick. No matter how good your immune system is, so many dorm plagues will run rampant through campus that you’re bound to catch one of them. Expect this, and have a game plan. Have medicine, soup, a keurig, tissues, or whatever at the ready. Missing class is not good. 
10. You will also spend money. No matter how miserly you think you are. You will need this for medicine, occasional groceries, and--dare I say it? Fun. Yes, you should go out with your friends once in awhile. We’re all broke. There are many many cost effective ways to go out--student tickets, slurpees, etc. All cheap and all very worth it. Live life.