Lily Huynh/The Cougar
I can vividly remember my first day at UH. It was a typical August afternoon. The sun was beaming, everything looked huge, I kept getting lost and it was kind of scary. I was moving into my dorm at Cougar Village 1 and into a room with complete strangers.
I remember begging my boyfriend not to leave after we finished unpacking and then sobbing when he did, not because I’m clingy but because I was terrified of what was coming next, a new chapter that I had to go through alone. I can remember that feeling as if it were yesterday.
It has been three years since I moved into that small room in CV1. I’m now a senior, and I can say the fear goes away with time.
It’s rough at first, trying to find your people and where you belong. It took me almost my entire freshman year to finally feel settled and if I could do something differently, I would have said yes more often.
Finding your place
When you get to college, you realize that this new chapter of your life is starting. No parents telling you what to do, no curfew, new people everywhere and endless possibilities. But with that comes an overwhelming feeling of wanting to make each moment count, to not look back on your college experience with regret.
I definitely felt that pressure, but it was difficult when everyone already seemed to know each other. Somehow, everyone already had their group by the first day. I wondered, is it really that easy to find your place? Turns out, everyone was just pretending and we were all extremely lost kids desperately looking for a place to belong.
Freshman year is awkward for almost everyone, even if people pretend it isn’t. Everyone is trying to figure themselves out while also balancing classes, work, relationships and being away from home for the first time.
But eventually, I found my footing, even if my only friends for the first semester were my two suite mates. Honestly, that was enough for me.
Some of my favorite college memories came from random moments I almost skipped because I was nervous or tired. Late-night visits to the dining hall where we’d judge people’s food orders, sitting in my suite mates’ room talking for hours, saying yes to events even when I didn’t know anyone there, those small moments slowly turned UH into home.
I spent so much of freshman year worrying about whether I was doing college “right” that I forgot everyone else was just as lost as I was. Looking back now, I realize nobody really has everything figured out. The people who seemed the most confident were usually figuring it out as they went too.
One uncomfortable yes
Then came student orgs, which were an even scarier monster to me. I thought it would feel like forcing myself into a group of already established friendships, but I also had to pay to be involved.
At the same time, I wanted to expand my world beyond the two friends I had. So when I was invited to a sorority recruitment event, I figured there was no harm in saying yes.
If there was one thing I’m glad I said yes to, it was that. Being part of an organization filled with people who wanted to see me succeed, while also giving me some of my favorite memories, is something I’ll always be grateful I said yes to.
Now, as graduation gets closer, I almost laugh thinking about how terrified I was to move into CV1. The campus that once felt overwhelming now feels familiar. The strangers I was scared to meet turned into friendships, memories and experiences that shaped who I became over the last three years.
College is intimidating because it throws thousands of strangers together and expects them to somehow build a life from scratch. But eventually, the campus gets smaller, the unfamiliar becomes routine and the people who once felt like strangers slowly become part of your everyday life.
Sometimes all it takes is one uncomfortable “yes” for a place to finally start feeling like home.
opinion@thedailycougar.com
