I was wiping down someone’s spilled Coke in the dining area of The Commons. My five-hour shift wasn’t even close to its end. While I was doing my unnecessarily meticulous job, my coworker, also a freshman, walked up to me.
“So, how do you like university so far?” she asked me.
“Living my best life,” I said jokingly, pointing at the sticky stain that I had yet to clean. “But to be honest with you,” I continued, “I think I am living my best life. University was everything I dreamt about all through high school.”
“Yeah, it is not what I imagined; I don’t even know what it was that I imagined, but I still love it,” said my coworker. I don’t think I would find a better way to describe my impression of the first-year student experience even if I tried.
Less than a month ago, I had no idea what university would be like for me. I came to PLU as an international student with the familiarity of studying in an American high school for two years. As a result, I had the privilege of not going through the culture shock as some of my international friends did. Other than that, however, everything about being a student was new, exciting, and scary at the same time.
The most unexpected aspect of student life for me turned out to be socializing. University is so exciting in terms of new people and friendship opportunities – I felt like a child in a toy store. For each passion, interest, hobby, or even trauma of mine there was a person who would get it, who has been in the same place; and all of a sudden I felt this magic click of our souls connecting.
But it lasts only until you meet the next person with the next set of shared experiences. And that’s how university socializing goes from exciting to exhausting – you physically can’t tear yourself apart from all these different people.
Another point that does not seem to come up very often in conversations about college experiences is the fact that the location of the institution stops being important as soon as you arrive there. This question would be relevant only to out-of-state and international students, whose choice of university most likely was heavily impacted by its place in relation to big cities or attractions. But when on-campus life begins in Parkland, together with lots of homework, rehearsals, and clubs, the world outside campus ceases to exist.
Coming from an international perspective, American university resembles Ukrainian high school academically more than one could predict. The amount of homework and readings expected to be done in university seems overwhelming compared to general American high school requirements. Surprisingly, the workload and sense of accountability for keeping up with homework or missed classes are comparable with what I experienced in 10th grade at a Ukrainian high school.
University can be a lot. It’s important to remember that your expectations don’t always come true right away, but as with any experience, it is about what you make of it. Being open-minded and taking things at your own pace can be helpful. If your student life is not going the way you have imagined it, let yourself find new things that you can fall in love with!
