Things I will tell my freshman self (if time travel ever becomes possible)

Chelsea+Bradley%2F+Managing+Editor

Chelsea Bradley/ Managing Editor

I came to Tarleton as a bright eyed, bushy tailed 17 year old in the fall of 2011. Fresh out of high school, I was ready to tackle adulthood and all the freedoms that accompanied it – no restrictions, no authority, and no one to tell me I couldn’t eat Whataburger breakfast burritos at three in the morning. In short, I was ready for the good life.

Now, as I begin my senior year, I almost laugh at my younger self. Things don’t always work out the way you think they will, which I suppose was the first lesson I learned in college. Below is a list of a few other lessons I had to learn the hard way:

Your current best friend will (probably) not be your best friend this time next year.

This sounds a bit cynical, I know. But the people you knew in high school will change every bit as much as you will in college. You will not be the same person they went to prom with, and you may barely recognize the person who used to help you make prank calls in the middle of the night. You don’t have to lose those friendships entirely, but consider it a blessing when you start to grow apart from the people you swore would always be in your wedding – it will give you an opportunity to branch out and create lifelong relationships with any of the thousands of new faces you’re going to be passing every day for the next four years.This lesson also applies to that high school boyfriend you’re still holding on to. If marriage is not a realistic, foreseeable future for the two of you, end it now and allow yourself the chance to find something different.

Your body is going to change.

I’m not talking about the freshman 15 that every single person swears up and down they’re going to avoid (although if that’s your goal, reconsider that carte blanche meal plan – nobody needs unlimited trips to the dining hall, ever). I mean everything about your appearance is going to change. Your hair will look different – you’ll dye it, cut it, rip it out during finals week, and probably get gum stuck in it at some point. You will dress differently, (hopefully) creating a style that’s unique to your fashion sense and practical for the workplace. You will carry yourself differently, speak differently, and surround yourself with people you never even dreamed you’d associate with. Embrace these changes. Everything about college is supposed to make you into the person you will be for the rest of your life.

The world is not over if you don’t get a bid from your dream sorority.

I don’t mean to pick on Greek life, because those folks are truly great. This lesson applies every organization, club, team and job at Tarleton. You will come into college with your heart set on joining a fraternity, starring in a musical or dancing your heart out at basketball games, but the truth is, sometimes you’re just not cut out for it. Not every thespian is meant to be a star, and not every high school football player has what it takes to play on a college level.

You have no idea what the next four years will bring, so don’t try to plan them.

When I came to college, I was dead set on joining a sorority. When I didn’t get the one I wanted, it felt like the rug had been ripped out from under me, and all my dreams of what my time in college would look like went out the window. But the truth is, not getting into that sorority forced me to explore other options, and I found an organization that I love so much I can barely contain my excitement every time I think about it. For the past three years, Paradigm has been my home, my family, and my source of strength when I’m weak. It’s also the reason I became a Christian my freshman year, something I never in a million years would have predicted for myself. Which brings me to my final piece of advice:

Let go of (1) who you were and (2) who you think you’re going to be.

Maybe you’ll get into that organization you’re dreaming of. Maybe you’ll look exactly the same in four years, with the exact same friends and the exact same outlook on life. But I really, really hope that’s not the case. I hope you spend the next four (or five or six) years finding out who you truly are. Don’t settle for a stereotypical college experience. This isn’t “Van Wilder”, “Old School” or “The House Bunny”. It’s real life, and you will never have this much freedom and control over your future again. So make your own path, even if means forging into unknown territory.