What I wish I knew in College

It's official! The Caribou Coffee line was a 10 minute wait which means the Iowa State Campus is back in full swing! Hello long boarders, bicyclist, long lines, and freshmen staring at their smartphones trying to figure out which Cyride will get them to their destination.

Hello to you all!

Quite honestly, I don't mind the hustle and bustle of the students being back. I don't mind seeing their young faces light up when they are greeting friends they haven't seen since the spring semester.  I love seeing their eagerness to get to class and their wonder of what they are in for with new courses and professors.

 

I’m also a little jealous… Can I go back to College!?!

 

My absolute favorite part of Fall Semester is seeing the faces of the students I worked with the past few years now as College Freshmen on our Campus. They did it! Their in college!

 

Yesterday I had a moment. I was down in our College Student Support Office and was sitting with three of our freshmen helping them to fill out applications for the program. I sat and listened as they told each other their stories from the first three days of class; the good, the bad, and the hilarious. Getting Lost. Buying the wrong books. And my favorite: Sitting in a senior level course for 15 minutes before realizing she was in the WRONG room, then having been the "good student" she had to excuse herself from the very front of the classroom only to have the professor point out that she was in the wrong room. Poor Poor Soul... I'm really laughing with you not at you.

 

It was in this moment that I was filled with pride. They were doing what they set out to do, they are the first in their families to attend college, they are living the college dream.

 

I know they don't see it yet and actually my one students told me, "College is NOT how everyone made it out to be... this is horrible".

 

After hearing her say that I started to think, she's right, it's not at all what other people make it out to be and do you know why?

 

Its YOUR experience to live.

 

All of those frustrating life problems that pop up that you now how to deal with make college what is so amazing, you just don't see it that way ... yet.

 

So here is what I wish I knew in College:

 

#1. Things sometimes get worse before they get better.

 

You just moved from your home, friends, and everything familiar to you only to now live in a 12x12 room with someone you may not know, in a town that is unfamiliar, away from the parents that would swoop in and fix your problems for you at a moments notice. You will get lost, you will have SUPER awkward moments where you have no one to sit with in the lunch rooms, and you will have to go to the financial aid office yourself when a U-bill isn't correct. You are going to cry...from time to time. You are going to feel like you are failing at this thing called "College". And you are going to want to quit.

 

Don't. I promise things will get better! You’ve got to get into your new groove and most always that can take more than… the first day of class.

 

#2. To quote a Colleague, "Don't expect things to Change, if you don't Change with them."

 

This is College, why are you still going home on the weekends but expecting to have a GRAND ol' College Experience? During the week it's go time. Classes, Work Study, & Homework. Weekends = Opportunity and I don't mean in the liquid social form. Colleges offer so many fun activities during the weekends! Comedians, midnight bowling, trips to cities close by, dances, BINGO (for food)! The list could go on and on! Here is my question to you,

"Why are you going home to the life that you LEFT to experience the same crap you've DONE in a place that you have grown to big for?"

 

#3. Just because the first Greek that shows interest in you doesn’t mean they are the right fit for you. The BEST Greeks are those of us that shopped around.

 

 

1. Take a semester to go to the meet and greet events at each Sorority/Fraternity
2. Keep your ears open about what the word is on Campus about the Sorority/Fraternity your interested in
3. Do your homework! Joining a Sorority/Fraternity means being a Sister/Brother for a LIFETIME not just the 4 years of college. Is this Sorority/Fraternity the one for you?
4. Greek life can also cost mucho dineros if you have to live in a house or pay National Dues each semester so this may be something else to consider.

I completely do not regret my choice to become a Sister of Sigma Alpha but it’s because I took my time with the decision and made sure that they were the right fit for me… not the other way around. 

#4. Travel!

No not to Miami on spring break. Join the Habitat for Humanity club or take a semester and travel abroad. When you enter the working world it takes time to build up Vacation leave and the money to afford to go, especially since you’ll be paying on your school loans.

#5.  My last words on What I WISH I knew in College.

Four years goes by so fast. If you thought high school flew by just you wait. Enjoy each and every opportunity, continue to network and meet new people, get an internship during the summer, and be sure to make lots of memories.

What is something you wish you knew when you were in College?