Hello everyone, I am back with a new blog post as promised. For today’s post, I will be talking about a general overview of my experience during my first semester in college. A huge part of why I was not blogging for months, was because I had started college and I was adjusting to the college life. However going forward when I start the spring semester, I am planning on continuing with my blog, by posting once weekly.

I will not be enclosing what school I go to as of now, for safety reasons, however I am from the Chicagoland area and I do attend school not very far from my house, at a Liberal Arts College. I did choose to dorm on campus, to really engage myself in the college experience and to practice independence.

The day I moved into my dorm was such a blur, I remember feeling heighten emotions of anxiousness, surprise, and excitement. From where I was the first half of 2018, going and starting college was a massive change from everything I had been used to. The main feeling I felt, was that this was unbelievable, I am no longer living at home, I’m away from my family, and I am starting this new chapter of my life alone at college. Orientation was great though, I participated in this pre-orientation program, before my school’s main orientation, and it helped me meet new people and feel more comfortable in the environment before transitioning to a larger group setting.

The biggest adjustment at college was definitely living in the dorms. I live in a quad, so I have three other roommates, and living with strangers is difficult, you have to open up, and thankfully we all did and become close later on. The cafeteria food is alright, although after two weeks, I got real sick of the food and just wanted a home cooked meal. The most difficult aspect of living in a dorm, was the whole bathroom situation, my dorm building has communal bathrooms and man was that an adjustment, for others it’s not too bad, but something I miss is the luxury of my bathroom at home and the privacy I had, although it is part of the college experience.

As far as classes go, they are way better than in high school without a doubt. I took an english composition course, my freshman year seminar which was about gender and college experience, and an intro to psychology course. I was also enrolled in a math class, however I ended up dropping that class (a story for another time). My classes were very good for the most part, I had the best professors and I was so thankful to have made friends in each of my classes. It’s very nice having a different schedule every day, having time in between classes to relax and go back to your dorm or to chill in the main lounge and get some work done.

Overall, college has opened me up to so much more, I have met many cool people,  I have gotten out of my comfort zone, took risks, and have gotten involved in campus life. There has been some struggles throughout the semester, where I had wanted to move back home or felt alone, but I pushed through it, like most students. I appreciate the pretty great moments I had with friends, the laughs that I had not felt in years, and the one-time opportunities I partaken in.

I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about how my first semester at college went. I am planning on starting a college series on my blog, where I write about a variety of aspects of college life, so if you have requests as to what you would like to see, then comment them down below! 

talk to you soon, ariana. ♡

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