To wrap up my entries into a neat bow is not exactly the easiest thing ever. I have tried my best to give advice and tips to help students, to help freshman, with their transition between leaving a residential home and entering a new one. I have to say that these past three months have been immensely taxing emotionally, mentally, and physically. I can, however, say that they have been the best three months of my life.

It’s odd because the minute you enter into college, you will go to all ends of the world in order to find a sense of comfort. I tried to imitate my routine at home in which I would bury myself into my blankets in the dark and watch The Office. 

My roommate would do her laundry the same nights here as she would do at home. It’s interesting to watch how people adapt, how they change and mold due to their new found freedom. Some, of course, change faster than others and its not expected of anyone to instantly feel comfortable. I certainly didn’t.

We have, however, all adapted in some way. We understand the campus map, we are able to work the bus system, we are no longer in unfamiliar territory. So instead of writing and explaining how to feel comfortable here and how to adapt, I decided to write about what it finally feels like to be at home.

Many of my friends who are still seniors have asked me time and time again what college is like. I, too used to pound college freshmen with the same question, eager to finally be in their shoes. The only response I would receive was that college was fun. I was so dissatisfied with the answer. How can something so important and memorable in one’s life be only considered fun? Wasn’t college supposed to be the best four years of your life? However, I now find myself only able to answer the question in the same way my predecessors did. College is incredibly fun.

It’s not just that you’re around your friends all day, or that once you feel as if you find your place, you really find it, but that you are at last able to do it all on your own. We were once so dependent on routine and our home life, dependent on our parents and teachers to help us in our time of need. Friends didn’t have time to hang out because they had prior obligations. In college you make time to hang out because you start to actually enjoy the people which you surround yourself. You’re still dependent on your parents, but in the same way in which a working parent who makes majority of the household income is indirectly caring for their baby through buying baby food, diapers, etc. You take care of yourself. As a result, you find yourself and who exactly you are supposed to be around.

The work is hard, it’ll always be hard, but it’s so dramatically different from high school. I find myself actually wanting to learn and gain knowledge, not simply memorize equations and vocabulary because I am required to. You learn in one semester here what you learn in three years of high school.

My big is constantly telling me to not worry because I’m still a freshman, I don’t have to have it all figured out right now. We yearn to have a plan because it’s a natural instinct of ours. Eventually you’ll stop worrying and just enjoy college for what it is. I no longer have to dig a crevasse in my bed for me to watch The Office in the dark in order to feel some sort of comfort. That doesn’t stop me from doing it, let’s be clear, but it’s no longer about comfort or finding a home. It’s about finding yourself, as stupid as it sounds.

You’ll find yourself here. You’ll discover who you’re supposed to be, and what you’re supposed to do. That’s the one piece of advice I can promise.