Everyone knows the transition from secondary school into college is a bloody daunting one. You're going headfirst into the unknown with no idea what's ahead of you. Even though you might know other people from home that are going to the same college or the same city as you, that doesn't mean settling in is gonna be any easier. In fact, sometimes it can make it even harder.
A lot of the time people who start college with their friends from school rely on each other in social situations, such as during lectures, and fail to mix with other new people. It may seem fabulous at the beginning when you walk into a massive hall full of strangers, thinking you're the absolute shit because you have someone to sit next to for an hour. Eh, that's not really how it works in college.
Walking into a lecture with friends makes you automatically intimidating and not someone open to mingling and meeting new people. Then again, you could be a complete lone wolf in college and still be an antisocial bitch. It depends, I guess.
Starting college surrounded by your amigos from home can sometimes really hold you back. You're always depending on them being there when you want to go to the cinema or go for lunch and if they're not around, you're fucked because you haven't made any new friends. As well, you're less likely to join any clubs or societies if your friends aren't joining them too.
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People always say that everyone changes in college and that you become your own person, but for a lot of people, that doesn't happen if they're still surrounded by people from home. Sometimes you have to break away from the familiar to really figure out who you are. At least that was the case for me.
I only truly found myself when I separated myself from what I had known all along; what I had always considered my safety net. Yes, I lost some friends along the way but I wouldn't change it for the world because I know this is the best path for me. I feel more myself with the new people I've met in college than I have ever felt before. And that's not me throwing shade at my old friends. I'll always appreciate the times we had, but for now, we're just meant to go our own ways.
That's the thing with starting college. You think you know everything and you've nothing left to learn. I mean, you just did the Leaving Cert like? But in reality, secondary school is just one massive clusterfuck. It's only when you experience the freedom and variety that college offers that you realise how much school was holding you back.
In my little opinion, the best thing you can possibly do when you start college is get the hell out of your comfort zone as soon as possible. Do things you wouldn't normally have done, mingle with randomers in lecture halls, be confident enough to go on a night out with a bunch of people you barely know. Because I really do believe that college is where you meet the best friends you keep for the rest of your life and if I hadn't done my own thing, I'd never have met them. And God only knows where I'd be without them right now.
