The college experience is different for everyone. Some can’t wait to leave home and start a whole new life, while others tend to cling to what they had.
Either way, you learn to be completely independent; from taking care of your own laundry to simply finding something to eat for each meal.
All I can say is that within a week of being on my own I have grown up so much.
I arrived at St. Mary’s College of Maryland a week before the regular students so that I could try out for the soccer team. When I first walked into my dorm, it was surreal. It felt like a camp. My heart kept thinking that my parents would be back in a week to pick me up, but my head kept telling me to accept the fact that I would be on my own for three consecutive months.
Part of me didn’t think I was ready. I wanted to go back home so bad. Go back to everything I knew and everything I had grown to love. But despite all the bad feelings, the good feelings seemed to outweigh them as the week progressed.
College sports are a completely different level of play compared to high school. I knew the week would be tough, but no one ever warned me of how physically and emotionally exhausting it would be to come to an entirely new environment and be expected to play soccer with complete strangers at the top of my game. Needless to say, by the weekend I had begun to appreciate sleeping in until ten o’clock!
Not only was I dealing with being apart from my family and friends, but I was so worried about not making the final roster. Finally, after suffering the heat, the competition, and all of my mixed emotions, I received the call from the coach congratulating me on making the team. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!
It seemed like everything I had been going through my entire first week was worth it. Now, I can’t wait to start my first year with a bang.
I found my place here and I encourage every freshman to put themselves out there even if it’s out of your comfort zone. You will be glad that you did
For the rest of this week I still have practice two times a week. Regular students move in Thursday and classes start on Monday. I’m so excited to see what else awaits me here and I know that even though a lot of the new stuff is going to be scary, it will all benefit me in the end.
