Every college first-year student knows the feeling of being bombarded with questions such as, “How’s school?” when they see their family for the first time since moving out. My typical “go-to” response has been, “It’s an adjustment, but I like it,” or, when in doubt, “It’s good.” But what has it actually been like to be a first-year student? I can sum up my experience thus far in one word: change. 

Like many others, my transition to college has been about more than simply moving on from high school. It has been living in a new state, learning to manage my time and freedom, adapting to living with another person, balancing schoolwork with my personal life and even learning to pump my own gas (back in New Jersey I just say “fill it regular”). 

Change is inevitable, but that doesn’t make it easy to handle. I’ve had to abandon my comfort zone in order to establish myself and get involved, and in the process, I’ve become more confident. 

College is a time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Discomfort has been my personal pathway for growth, and bettering myself came through trying new things and putting myself out there. For better or for worse, the first-year experience has been a lot of starting over, but with this came opportunities to expand my horizons.

Within the chaos of change, I have found it easy to start comparing my experience to others. I found myself questioning why everyone else seems to have everything all figured out. In reality, I found that no one does. The first-year experience is uniquely yours and truly is what you make of it. 

There is also no right or wrong way to go about the first year of college. I have prioritized maintaining healthy habits like lifting weights in the gym and studying, but I have also learned to balance this with having fun and giving myself time to unwind. I discovered what worked for me and made it a routine, and I started to care less about what other people were doing in the process.

My first-year experience has been about embracing the changes and discomforts that come with starting a new era in life. It’s also been about making the experience something that matters to me, which is what I hope every incoming first-year will take away from this.