I would have to say that my expectations about college were a little different than how I am actually living my college life right now. The first thing I had expected had to do with how fast I would make friends. I had expected it to be a little like high school. You have a group of people that you are thrown into and you make friends with some and with others you don't. This was NOTHING how it really was in college life. You have to make much more of an effort making friends. I am not very outgoing in meeting new people, luckily I joined a fraternity that really helped me through the friend making process. I can honestly say I would not have made nearly as many friends I do have now without the help of my fraternity. Another expectation I had about college had to do with professors in class. I really didn't have a great idea of how they would interact with the students. I didn't think they would be as close to me as my high school teachers were but I did think that they would be at least a little interested in their students. I was partly right with this. Yes the teachers do you want you to succeed (most of them) but you have to make that extra effort to go find the teachers and ask for their help personally. I have learned many important things since coming to the university. First off, you are always responsible for your actions, if you fail you have no one to blame but yourself. Another thing I learned is that you can not have too many friends. The more friends you have the more resources you have not only during the year but beyond your stay at the university as well. I also learned the valuable lesson of being independent. I had to do everything for myself and you learn new things that make your life a lot easier.
I believe I am a very different person than before I came to the university. I am definitely a lot more independent and I have discovered a new sense of confidence in myself due to the fact that everything that has come to me I has happened due to my own actions. That is a very liberating feeling. I don't think there are many thingsi would change if I were to do the school year over again. I am very happy with how things have been going and I don't want many things to change, but if they do I hope they change for the better. If I were to return to my high school and talk to the seniors there I would tell them a few things. First off that they should enjoy the fact that they don't have to live completely independently just yet and that they have parents to cook them meals. Second I would tell them that college is an awesome experience where you also experience many new things that you could never experience in high school. I would tell them to look forward to this with much enthusiasm. This has been a great experience for me and I am barely in my second year of it! I feel that it will only get better with time as I move toward my final years at the university.