Column: Eight things to know before going to college

After high school, students usually feel fully prepared for college life. Countless people talk about the importance of engaging in school activities to make friends, how there might be a change in career paths more than once and how to learn to love and regret the classic “red cup beer pong” parties. College is a chapter in life where students become adults.

To an extent, these comments became true. However, there are a few things I wish I had been told when I was a freshman.

1. Meal plan

I thought a meal plan would be so convenient, eating unlimited amounts of burgers and pizza with my friends every day at whatever time in the day. But now I see all my friends ordering Chinese food and I’ve got money on my meal plan card that I have to spend before the end of the semester. Somehow that deep-fried chicken burger I eat everyday doesn’t seem appealing anymore.

2. Expensive groceries

Therefore, I decide to start shopping at Smith’s. I tell myself walking to Smith’s every week will make me fit and that I’m even going to buy salad mix and plastic boxes to take my new healthy meals to class. But now that walk to Smith’s seems so far away and I’ve ended up spending $60 on all the chips, soda, macaroni and cheese and Pop Tarts my mom would never buy.

3. Hence, catching the freshman fifteen

Now I know why my mom never bought all that stuff. None of my jeans fit and I end up spending all week in workout clothes that I’ve never actually worked out in.

4. College bookstore

I started the term thinking the convenient college bookstore on campus is the perfect place to buy all of my books, decorated folders and gel-pens for the semester. Then I got to checkout and ended up spending about $150 while wondering why I spent half of that on multi-colored highlighters I lost in the first week. It’s better to buy books on Amazon or eBay, it’s cheaper.

5. Contact with family

In those first few weeks, I rung my mom almost every day, telling her about my new classes, the parties I’d been to (minus a few details) and my new friends. Now it’s been three weeks since I’ve called my family, but I occasionally send them the “I’m alive” text.

6. Taking a 10 a.m. class will feel like a 6 a.m. class

At high school, I got so used to the 7 a.m. routine five times a week and laying in on weekends seemed such a treat. Now if I do something other than watching Netflix until noon, it’s a hard day. Most students decide their major on the classes that are offered after 2 p.m. Especially if the alternative is to stay up till 3 a.m. eating pizza and watching the same “Friends” episode for the 20th time and feeling like death in the 10 a.m. class.

7. Contact with people down the hall won’t last

In my first few weeks, I was the friendliest person I could be, introducing myself to hundreds of people telling them, “Give me your number and we’ll hang out this week.” I told myself I would see them every day and that they’ll be those life-long friends everyone talks about. Not so much. It’ll take until the second semester to figure out who the real friends actually are.

8. Living with roommates is hard

Before college, students are typically used to having personal space. But sharing a flat with strangers is hard. I haven’t seen a clean, empty sink in about three weeks. There are mountains of dishes with half-eaten food, a dozen pizza boxes by my door and the floor has multi-colored marks on from last week’s Chinese food. Spending the summer back in at the parent’s clean house will be a blessing.

Sophie Earle is a columnist for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.