There is no feeling quite like the fear one feels the summer before starting college. I, for one, was in a three-month state of anxiety. In order to lure myself into a false sense of security, I made several educated guesses as to what college would be like. I based these guesses on the truest indicators of reality: movies, the Internet and TV.
“Mona Lisa Smile” taught me that everyone reads the entire textbook before school starts and then proceeds to humiliate their professor; “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” taught me that you don’t need to bother going to class, especially if you’re busy slaying demons; and “Pitch Perfect” taught me, once again, that classes are really not necessary and that people barge in on you in the shower and demand that you sing for them. As you can tell, these sources gave me an accurate depiction of life at UH.
Freshman Edward Ansong also had high expectations of UH. “I expected it to be very difficult. My dad told me that in his first college class the professor said, ‘Look to your left and to your right. By the end of the year, one of these people will be gone.’”
So far, though, classes at UH are easier than he expected.
“I think my high school prepared me really well,” Ansong said.
However, not everyone has made a smooth transition from high school to college. Another freshman, who prefers to remain anonymous, recalls how lonely and helpless she felt at the beginning of the year. “I expected to come here and make friends immediately, but that didn’t happen. I’ve never been really good at meeting people, but I guess I expected to be a different person in college. At least in high school I had my group of friends, but here I had no one.”
This source does, however, provide hope to those who may be in a similar situation. “I was feeling really lonely and depressed. My mom told me that I should join an organization to meet people. I was scared, but I did it. Now I have people that I talk to. I’m not totally comfortable yet, but I’m getting there.”
As for myself, I was surprised by how little anti-freshman sentiment there is on campus. I guess after sitting on the Internet, looking at too many “College Freshman” memes, I convinced myself that freshmen are considered the scum of the earth by upperclassmen. If this is the truth, then you guys sure are good at hiding it. Most people simply don’t care about classification, and if they do ask, most upperclassmen are happy to impart advice and wisdom.
While our roads here may have been bumpy and misleading, I speak for my fellow freshmen when I say that we’re excited to be a part of UH. We’re excited to learn, we’re excited to meet new people and, most importantly, we’re excited to be Coogs.
Opinion columnist Emily Johnson is an English literature freshman and may be reached at [email protected]
