*Pro-tip: Please don't assume all these things apply to your school. Each uni is different in scheduling and campus layout and so on and so forth.
Things That May Catch a College Freshman by Surprise (and Some Helpful Tips):
1). No one cares if you eat alone at meals. Seriously. Like in high school, you had to have your crew with you or your loneliness got you labelled as a "loser," or a "nerd," if you hid in the library (like I did). If you're hungry but have no one to eat with, just get out something to read or work on while you eat. Maybe listen to some of your music. Or hit up what my college calls a Grab n' Go - pick up a to-go meal and chill out back in your dorm. No one even looks twice.
If you are already perfectly comfortable with eating alone, power to you. I envy your confidence.
2). Exam is really just another word for test - they're just not in class. They're around 20-30 questions, depending on the class, and they generally last half an hour to 40 minutes. They're basically big quizzes pretending to be finals. That was a bit off-putting, but the bigger deal is WHEN exams take place. For me, my Chem exam was from 7:00 - 8:30 PM (I finished early though). It was light when I got to the hall, and dark when I got out. Weird.
3). You may think 10 minutes is plenty of time to get from class to class, and it usually is, but for some classes, they're on the exact polar opposite of campus. Twice a week I have to practically run from one class to another, and I use up all of those 10 minutes. If you need to leave class a little bit earlier to preserve your lungs and legs, ask your professor. They probably won't mind you leaving five minutes early. So far, I've only had to do this once, to get to a dance workshop on time.
4). You no longer bump from class to class. You may have hours to waste between classes some days, or you have to run from one to the next on other days. For me, none of my classes start earlier than 10:00 AM, and for all but one class I have an hour break between them. Some days I only have one class, and both those start in the afternoon. Kiss your high school schedule goodbye.
5). People actually exercise here. Walking around in running shorts and shoes is perfectly acceptable attire, and not because they belong to a sports team. It's more likely they just came from the gym.
People actually, willingly, gladly EXERCISE. It's not expected of you, but it's a pretty big thing.
Because I'm giving 5K color runs another go (and I have people here who actually GOT tickets this time - see I Wish That I Could Be Like The), I too am going to the gym regularly. Because a 5K is around 3.1 miles, I've been running 3 miles every day, except this past week has been crammed with exams so I haven't been going so regularly anymore as of late. This run is going to be awesome though - it's gonna be a blacklight run.
6).
On a slightly unrelated note, I HIGHLY recommend getting a hot pot of sorts. Not only can you make tea, but now you can also get ramen packets and Cup o' Noodles from the local convenience store. If you live in an environment where nights can get chilly, you also now have a means for filling up a hot water bottle.
I wouldn't grab too much stuff, because there is a line. I've heard stories of people who pack entire giant Ziplock bags full of pasta, or a tall coffee travel mug with cereal. Basically, don't get too greedy. If you're uncomfortable at the thought of taking food out of the caf, don't worry. I'm a person who likes to snack rather than eat large meals, so having small amounts of food in my dorm ready to eat is really nice. If you eat proper meals like a proper healthy person, then power to you.
7). Watch out for bikers and skaters, be you a pedestrian, biker, or skater yourself. Most people are good at avoiding walkers, but if you're not used to biking or skating a lot, it can be hard to judge the space you take up, and you can graze someone. I've nearly been run over thrice now. Two of those occurrences were skateboarders going too fast and weaving back and forth over the path (which I understand, it's a technique used to slow yourself down when going downhill - horses sometimes zigzag too). I have witnessed an actual collision too. If you're biking on campus, I suggest practicing balancing while moving slowly - the paths can get quite crowded and it's easier to move slowly than to get off and walk your bike.
8). Co-ed dorms - oh man. My floor is co-ed, though the bathroom I use is not. Don't worry, you usually don't see your floor mates that much outside the building. I wouldn't recognize my dorm mates if I met them out on campus. But if you have a problem with your neighbors, I suggest you try to resolve it as soon as possible. I don't have any problems yet, but a friend of mine in the same hall can hear her neighbor's bed banging against the partitioning wall some nights - it's not hard to connect the dots.
9). You adjust to campus life more quickly than you'd think. Think about it: you have to grocery shop, get your own food, do your own laundry, manage your bank account - you're probably not used to that. We young adults are surprisingly resilient to these changes and bounce back easily (I fully realize how arrogant that sounds). I actually didn't even realize I was doing all these things with zero support (emphasis on the zero part, if you think you're already self-sustaining) until I thought about it just now, and I've been doing it for more than three weeks? Wow. Speaking of - time flies. You get used to it.
10). Lack of personal space. I don't have many possessions, and I'm in a single, so you'd think I'd have plenty of room, right? But all my stuff is crammed into my one bookshelf, and my closet is way smaller than I'm used to. Good thing I don't have many clothes to begin with. Don't binge shop at Bed, Bath, & Beyond - half the things you want to buy you probably won't even need.
11) I don't know what to call my teachers. It's so confusing and awkward trying to get their attention. I, personally, think it's more appropriate to call them by surname, but Mr.___ or Mrs.___ sounds weird in a college setting. Professor ___ sounds a bit better, but then there are some people who causally call teachers by their first names. Like, I can understand referring to a TA that casually, but an actual teacher? Weird. I'm still figuring this out. For now, it typically goes like this: "Hi, um, [insert question/statement here]. /?"
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I've only included 10 things for now, if I notice anything else surprising that I think is applicable to other colleges I'll add them (**EDIT: I did add one). For instance, I didn't include that it seems like everyone here is white, because it's certainly not true for all unis. But seriously - everyone. I just noticed yesterday that I'm the only Asian person in my dance class of maybe 15 people. Hell, I'm the only person who's NOT white. A little off-putting.
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The Riddle, by Gigi d'Agostino
I'm trying to relearn Italian, as of late, so here's a song from a popular electro Italian artist. Shhhhh, I know the words are English, but the song's so catchy. And look at that little dude strut.
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