Hello everyone, my name is Jayden Thomas. I am a junior at The University of Alabama, and I am one of three amazing women who will help you navigate college life. I cannot wait to share a little bit about my college expectations, experiences, and things I wish I knew before going to college.
My Expectations
Going into my freshman year of college I had many expectations, some were on par with reality, and some were not. Most of the expectations I had were formed out of fear and misinformation, so hopefully you can learn from my experiences. The summer before freshman year of college I had a laundry list of expectations. The list started with realistic expectations like becoming friends with my dorm mates and ended with less realistic expectations such as meeting coach Saban. To list a few other expectations: Join a sorority, make friends on my dorm floor, go to every football game, eat at dining halls, party, and automatically get an A in all classes, duh. I feel like these were all very common freshman year expectations to have. Spoiler alert I quickly learned that I was not going to have the freshman year I expected.
My Reality
Let me tell you the first realistic expectation did not happen. The first day I moved in, the roommate I shared the bathroom with, and I had a fight. I did not leave my bedroom unless I was leaving for a week to avoid interactions with her. The day after our fight I tried to escape to the dining hall to have a nice meal alone, but that was also a letdown. I quickly learned that the dining halls were not very good. Luckily my other two roommates moved in and saved me, eventually. They helped smooth over the tension that I had with my bathroom roommate, but I wouldn’t say this resulted in us becoming close friends. My first expectation was quickly chalked up to a loss. That freshman year expectation tied in with making friends on my dorm floor. That also did not go well. Oh, I forgot to mention the dorm mate I got into a fight with on day one was also the floor RA. As one might guess living with an RA freshman year can make it hard to make dorm floor friends, surprisingly freshmen fear the RA room. Though I could have made friends on my floor by trying to hang out with people in their dorms there were other things that caused me to abandon this expectation. One of the situations that caused me to not want to make friends with my neighbors was the fact that my RA had reported someone, which is her job, and this person did not react well to this. I can’t go into details but there was fear of stalking, possible damage to my suite, and threats of harm. From then on, I just decided to not become friends with girls on my floor.
On a good note, I did in fact meet the expectation of joining a sorority even with all of the crazy dorm drama. Rushing was one of the only escapes I had from my fight with my dorm mate. I got to leave my dorm for hours at a time and talk to people that did not in fact hate my guts. I even met some of my best friends through rushing. Then of course after recruitment came football season and I had a lot of expectations. I really thought I was going to meet Nick Saban and go to every football game. Boy was I wrong about both. Of course, I did not meet Nick Saban at a football game freshman year. I even sat all the way in the nose bleeds, so I could barely see him. Not only that but my first ever game was horrible. I didn’t have a cute outfit, my makeup was melting off, and I had the worst shoes on. This game left me scarred for the rest of the football season freshman year. I went from wanting to attend every football game to selling all my tickets so I could watch it at home. Remember though this is my experience, I knew plenty of people freshman year who loved walking up the massive spiral to the nose bleeds to watch the games in the Alabama heat.
Moving on, my next two expectations were to party and get all As. Those two expectations do not go hand and hand, but that is easy to guess when you aren’t a freshman. Sadly, the expectation of getting all As did not happen. It was hard to digest that I had not automatically been given an A in every class freshman year. I had seen so many videos of students at BAMA having the best time and sharing their accolades. I thought freshman year for sure I could get easy As from what I had seen on social media. I now know I was just a naive freshman. I still had a great time freshman year minus the lack of all As. I did in fact party like I had expected, and it was amazing. I had the classic freshman year going out phase and I did it all with my sorority sisters and friends. 10/10 would recommend, but don’t forget to do schoolwork.
My reality of freshman year had some rough patches, but overall, I had a better reality than I could have expected. I got to meet new people, step outside of my comfort zone, learn how to live in difficult situations, realized I needed to focus more on school, and I found my home at BAMA. I would not trade my freshman year experiences for anything.
My advice
I wanted to give readers a list of things I wish I knew before going into freshman year:
- Connect with your roommates before you move in
- Be prepared to eat a lot of microwave meals to escape the dining halls
- Find a spot where you can get away from roommates to have you time
- Join a sorority if you want to but don’t feel pressured to
- Pick out gameday outfits prior to football season
- Buy student football tickets as soon as they come out
- Make sure to have heat proof hair, makeup, and clothes
- Bring many pairs of walking shoes for all occasions
- Prepare to do a lot of schoolwork
- Create balance between social life and school
- Talk to as many people as you can
And one last note from me… Make Good Decisions!
Hey guys, my name is Sierra Dodson I am a Senior at the University of Alabama majoring in Advertising with a minor in International Business. I am excited to be able to share some of my college experience with you.
My Expectations/My Reality
Ever since I can remember I have always thought of the transition to college as a significant moment in my life. I fully assumed it would be the time when everything fell into place. The graduating class of 2020 had what I would describe during my freshman year of high school as the most remarkable year to graduate. The idea of the end of my high school years and the beginning of my college years being marked by the end of decade felt just right. A clear divide between the old and the new. However, I was never prepared for how that year would pan out. The excitement and anticipation I had once associated with starting college was overshadowed by the uncertainty of a global pandemic. All of the perfectly curated plans I had were no more. It’s really interesting to go back and remember that year. Instead of attending orientation events and bonding with classmates in person, I found myself logging into virtual meetings and attending online seminars from the four walls of my childhood bedroom. All but two of my classes that year were online, the campus always looked almost deserted. No where near the campus I have come to know in the following years. There were a lot of good things to come out of that year though. Since social settings were pretty limited it allowed me to really dive into my coursework making that part of my transition easier. I also learned the importance of doing the things you love when you have the chance. I have always been told that later in life there will be time to do the things you love but I would say you should also find time for those things now as well. As the months passed and the world gradually adapted to the new normal, glimpses of hope emerged on the horizon. Vaccination efforts provided a glimmer of optimism, signaling the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Slowly but surely, campus life began to resume, although with precautions in place to ensure the safety of students and staff. My freshman year was definitely different than expected but I learned a lot about myself and how to deal with disappointment.
My advice
- It’s okay to set expectations but prepare for things to go wrong.
- Kinda similar to #1 get comfortable with change. This is a new experience and things will be different.
- Snacks are key, the dining hall food is not great.
- Balance is key. You can have fun but don’t let it derail your studies.
- Don’t be afraid to change your major, it’s scary but worth it in the end.
- Go to class especially if attendance is required. Those points will add up in the end.
My name is Kara Colón, and I am a junior at the University of Alabama, studying public relations, with a minor in cyber criminology and computer technology and applications. Now let’s talk about the start of freshman year. There is a lot of anticipation leading up to the navigation of choosing roommates, determining the clubs or Greek life you may want to immerse yourself in, as well as the major you want to pursue. Let me break down what made this process easiest for my freshman year. (Expectation versus Reality Edition)
Oh, freshman year! I always consider it “the year you don’t want to relive, but glad you did.” There are so many memories that shape you throughout this experience that I always look back on positively.
My Expectations
I still remember the days in the late fall and early spring of my senior year of high school. Scrolling through numerous YouTube and TikTok videos of “Day in The Life of A UA Student” and “What Dorms to Live in Freshman Year” made a frequent visit in my computer history that year.
My Reality
Finding my roommates on an app called Patio made my process easier. We all were able to Facetime and get to understand each other better. Being from different states, all of us brought differences to the table. We learned how to equally split our chores and tasks around.
My Advice
Here are 5 focuses that I found EXTREMELY helpful to exert my energy on freshman year.
- Roommate Process
- Greek Life (Is it for you?)
- Selecting Your Major
- Staying Healthy
- Day in The Life- Treat College Like A 9-5
Roommate Process
Finding a Facebook page or GroupMe that incorporates roommate matching is a great way to set up a FaceTime call to see if you can find a roommate. I did this through the app Patio where I found a group of three girls to live in Presidential Village 1 with. We set up a call, and decided we clicked well and signed together. You may also prefer to go random and choose a dormitory of your choice first. Decide if you like the idea of a traditional style with one person, or your own room with three other people to see where you may end up liking best. The living style of freshman year is part adventure everyone looks back on throughout their years of college.
Greek Life
The rush process may be something you want to try out. Whether you are deciding on joining a fraternity or sorority, it is important to weigh out the pros and cons of what you think you will get out of this process. This is a great way to form lifelong friends, as you get to meet people throughout recruitment face-to-face, whether it be through rush or fraternal events. Understanding who you want to surround yourself with is important to decide as you are conversating with new people on campus. There are also many other ways to affiliate yourself on campus, such as Al’s Pals, and other organizations that incorporate your major or areas of interest where you can help out as well as find your community here on campus.
Selecting Your Major
I have recently gone through several different directions. My best advice would be to keep powering through. If you have any curiosity on determining your major, it is best to take some classes that serve as prerequisites for the direction you may want to go in. Pursue what you feel is best, then go from there! I started by looking at the prerequisites required for each major I was looking after and read the description to see if it fit my interests. I was drawn to the writing and public speaking classes associated with public relations.
Staying Healthy
There are many group exercise classes, and three gym facilities around campus. I am a fitness instructor at the University Recreation Center, and students and faculty of all ages take these classes. This allows us to motivate each other and is a great way to meet other freshmen wanting to look for workout buddies. Walking to class, going to the Manderson Landing Riverwalk, or finding a hiking trail near Lake Nicol are all great alternatives to staying in shape for your first year, but be easy on yourself as transitions are all new!
Try and plan your classes out ahead of time. Make sure your walks are not too far away from one another if you book one class right after another. Try and treat your day like a 9-5 where you try and stay on-campus all day. Find a Starbucks, your sorority or fraternity house, the library, the Recreation center, or in the sun on the quad as areas to rest and study in between classes. Grabbing a coffee and going to sit outside are great ways to spend the day when waiting for that 2PM. Meeting some new people at your sorority house or sitting with new people at the Lakeside Dining Hall for lunch are great ways to plan your weekend events or a study date to start freshman year off productive and fun. Do not stress if this takes a while to find your groove.
Day in the Life
With all this being said, freshman year is a year of inconsistency and fun. Try and make yourself as organized as possible going into the year strong, and do not forget to use your resources. There are so many around campus available to help guide you through to make your year as amazing as it should be.
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