Deserry Abrajano

, by deserryabrjano

What I've Learned From My First Month of College

Hi everyone! Can you believe I started this blog at the beginning of my Senior year, and now I'm a month into college? Although it's only been a month, I've already learned soooo much. There's so many things I never anticipated when I was a Senior. So for all my high school seniors, take note of everything I'm about to say! Because trust me, college is so much more different than you think.

1. It gets pretty lonely

As a commuter, not having that "traditional" college experience was something that I never thought would bother me. But when time came for school to actually start, I found that a lot of people had already created friendships simply because they lived on campus. Because I didn't have that advantage, I found myself just hanging out alone a lot of the time (which isn't always a bad thing! We all need alone time). In addition, the friends I do have on campus have completely different schedules. In fact, I'm lucky if I get to see them around campus at all.

Don't let this scare you though! I promise you won't be a total loner, as long as you put yourself out there! My strategy? On the first day of class, sit next to someone you want to be friends with! Initiate that awkward introduction, and hopefully a friendship will bloom.

2. You really are held responsible for everything

My high school teachers weren't wrong when they told me that professors won't remind me about ANYTHING. Back in high school, I was a good student. I kept up with all my work and turned in everything on time. I thought college would be no different. I was sooo wrong. The reason I did so well before was because my teachers ALWAYS reminded me of due dates. In college, however, my professors don't remind me of anything. They give you the syllabus on the first day of class and that's that. One of my professors even leaves off some due dates, expecting us to check online constantly. Even me, someone who's pretty responsible, has gotten points deducted from a couple assignments because I still expect someone to remind me to do everything!

My tip? Use a planner!! And don't just write due dates down and never look at them again, check that thing EVERY DAY and update it constantly! I promise you it'll save your life.

3. Studying is your new bff

If you plan on being premed in college, be prepared. I'd always heard from my older premed friends that studying is everything when you start college, but I thought they were just over exaggerating. And oh my god were they right. You'd think that in college you have more free time right? Nope. It's all an illusion. That so-called "free time" will be spent in the library studying because you will have exams every week.

Despite the grueling hours of class and studying, always be sure to schedule some time off for yourself. As for me, I usually don't do any homework on Friday nights, and take Saturday afternoons off to hang out with friends and family.

4. You will spend. A lot.

Before I started college, I thought I was going to be one of those super money-savvy people who would pack their lunch every day, and be able to avoid the temptation that is my university's food court. But unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Honestly, it's really hard to save money. Especially when most of my social events are centered around eating out. And because I have to commute, it's just so easy to buy food on campus instead of preparing it at home.

Sadly, I don't have a cute little tip for this one because I haven't even found a solution to this yet.

5. Explore!

In high school, I was scared of trying new things and going after what I truly wanted because I was scared of what my friends would say. However, because college is full of so many diverse groups of people that you probably don't know, this is the perfect opportunity to start over and be who you always wanted to be! Go join that a cappella group! Go audition for that play! Go do whatever the heck it is you wanted to but were always to scared to!

So there it is! 5 things I learned in my first month of college. I hope that no matter who you are, whether you're a senior in high school, a freshman in college who's as lost as I am, or even past your college career, that you've enjoyed this post. All in all, college is such an amazing experience and I'm so grateful to be able to study what I love. I can't wait to see what else college life has in store for me!