Eight things that scare first years at the end of year one

At the beginning of the year, we were frightened by the sexual assault statistics, condoms in the bathroom and mystery smells permeating the buildings on campus.

Now, seven months later, we are veterans of the school.

Nothing can scare us, except these things:

8. Declaring a major

I hear I’m supposed to know what I want to do with my life.

At this point, the school still tells us it is okay to be undecided, but come this time next year, it will be a completely different story.

That means I have approximately 54 weeks to know my major, and thus, what I want to be when I grow up. I do not know if I am ready for that.

7. Recognizing your status as ice cream aficionado 

There is this awful moment when you realize you have tried nearly every flavor of Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen-Daaz available in Old Main Market.

The knowledge that you could recognize just about every flavor blindfolded is a little disconcerting, and it is a massive statement about your life choices.

6. Realizing some friends might be gone 

People study away. That means they are not here. A great number of my friends are studying away during the same semester next year. So I am going to have to make some new friends, and that is a lot of hard work.

Fun.

5. Realizing the first year is all but over 

So much was done this year. So much was accomplished. So many games of Bananagrams were played.

It is like I have all the time in the world. The possibilities are endless. The world is my oyster. I have a whole three years left.

4. Realizing that there are only three years left 
That means I have to know what I want to do with my life in just three short years. I have to have my … stuff … together.

There are only three years left, and I still want to study away and that has to be possible somehow.

Then there is that worry that I wasted my time taking a class I did not need or enjoy when I could have been taking something that would have helped me toward a second major or at least a minor — or that I could have had fun in, bare minimum.

And there are only three years left to play Bananagrams with my friends.

3. Knowing it is time to put the big kid pants on 

We are old, hardened students. We do not need the school or our professors to hold our hands and walk us to class anymore.

Obviously, we are full-fledged adults ready to take on the world.

Yeah, right.

Please keep holding my hand. Please. I need it like I need to play more Bananagrams.

2. Being a really poor college studentIt seems impossible that I could have spent that much money over the course of a year. And I work a few jobs, so I am taking in money, too. Yet the real world is expensive, and I certainly do not make enough bank to afford it.

How much Ramen and drip coffee can I really consume?

1. Possibly having a serious case of Bananagrams mania 

This summer, I very well may need to seek professional help for my addiction to Bananagrams. It is interfering with my schoolwork and social life — okay, playing Bananagrams comprises a good portion of my social life.

Like a drug dealer, I try to get other people addicted to Bananagrams so they will play with me. Generally, it is very unhealthy. But, hey, it is better than actual drugs, right?

Anna Sieber is a first-year student at Pacific Lutheran University. She likes to write — which is why you’re reading this.