College is great. My experience here at WVU has been pretty exciting compared to high school. There are so many people, which is terrifying, but most of the people are super kind. I can’t even begin to explain the nervous feeling I had coming to college. The first day I had to come to campus for orientation without my mom, I couldn’t make myself ride the PRT by myself. I ended up walking back to my car crying, to call my mom. She gave me one of her great pep talks, which gave me the guts to begin my very first lone college experience. I drove in circles downtown to find a parking space that wasn’t going to take every penny I had. Finally, once I found one, I took my good ol’ time adding in my head the amount of change I would need for 2 and a half hours, then started my journey to the Life Science Building. That is where most of the Psychology department exists.
It wasn’t all that bad, other than the fact that I arrived as the orientation was starting. This caused me to sit in the back. I regretted my choice of seating the moment I sat down. I had the pleasure of sitting by another freshman who just so happened to talk a lot.. A LOT. Before I was even adjusted in my seat, she was in my face. She basically didn’t shut her mouth the whole time.
While trying to pay attention to the college presentation, I had her on my right side, talking my ear off. I knew the presentation was important, considering the fact that they were giving us our four year plan, but this girl’s makeup was more interesting. I would look over as she whispered something about people from her high school ignoring her, and notice the bits of purple, pink, blue, and yellow all jumbled on her eyelids. She wore bright red lipstick to compliment the rainbow of colors on her face, along with hot pink blush. I so badly wanting to reach over and blend her contour lines with my finger, but I knew that would be more than rude.
It was obvious that I wasn’t interested in talking, and she insisted on finding out what was wrong with me.
“Why aren’t you talking? Are you just nervous?” she asked repeatedly.
“Yeah, I’m just nervous about starting school.” I replied so that she would stop asking.
After the presentation, we got to get up and explore the campus. First was a tour lead by an upperclassmen in the Psychology department. My new “friend” stayed right by my side for the whole tour. She made sure I knew exactly what each building was and what classes of mine may be in them. She was a pure genious when it came to knowing about her college.
The day ended with free lunch, which cheered me up. I was starving and ready to meet up with my friends. We stood in line for food as she told me what our choices were. Hot dogs or veggie wraps.. GREAT
I could hardly contain my excitement. Both of my favorite foods! NOT!
She grabbed three hot dogs, which made me sick because she didn’t use the utensils sat out to grab them. I decided veggie wraps were the way to go. I grabbed a wrap and a bottle of water as I checked my phone to see where my friends were. I needed an out...BAD.
“Where do you want to sit?” the girl who’s name I never knew asked.
Without an answer, she grabbed my arm and pulled me to a bench off to the side. Somehow, she was left with one hot dog. Where had the other ones gone? There was no way she already ate them. I guess I will never know.
I struggled to eat the wrap with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and ranch on it because it was so messy. She literally stared at me every time I would go to take a bite.
“I’m done. Let’s go see what all those tents are!” she yelled as she threw away her plate.
I had taken about three bites of my wrap and hadn’t opened my water. I stood up and threw away my plate with an attitude.
“Were you not done? You could have finished?” she exclaimed, noticing I was irritated.
It was a little too late. I made it over to the tents, grabbed a free planner and poncho, and decided I had had enough. My friends obviously weren’t coming and I had no intentions of spending the rest of my day with her.
“I have to go pick up my friends at the Health Sciences Building. It was nice meeting you!” I said with a fake smile on my face.
She begged me not to go, but I “had to”.
That was a fantastic way to start off my year. Considering the fact that we were both first year Psychology majors, i prayed every night until the first day of school that I would not have class with her. Luckily, I haven’t seen her since.
I haven’t had too many more experiences as fun as that one, but I have made some new friends. Of course, I am still best friends with my group of friends from high school, and even reunited with my middle school best friend. I expected them to be my only friends throughout college, but to my surprise, I made a new friend the first week of classes.
I arrived in Woodburn hall on Wednesday only to find that the class number I wrote down did not exist. I remembered seeing the classroom when my mom showed me around, but I was still unsure. I went to where I thought the class was and asked some girl if it was the correct class. She said it was and I followed her into the classroom, sitting right beside her. We started talking right away, but only about how our days were going. I didn’t know if it was okay to already be asking her about her life, so I just let it be.
The next week, in my World Religions class, I followed a girl into the lecture hall and sat a couple seats over from her.
“Hey, aren’t you in my math class?” I heard coming from my right
I looked over and awkwardly yelled “hey! Yeah!”
From then on, we have been best friends. She is from Pennsylvania, and luckily she and a couple of her friends chose WVU over CalU. Because I was friends with her, I was automatically accepted into her little posse.
I’m so glad I decided to go out of my comfort zone and ask a random girl if I was in the right place. That was the start of many great friendships!
Since I changed majors, I anticipate meeting more people, and starting more great friendships. I am so grateful that basically everyone at WVU has a kind heart- at least when first meeting people. I never thought that I would be one to step out of my comfort zone, but college really was a new beginning for me. I am so lucky to have the chance to proceed in college thanks to multiple scholarships, the support of my wonderful family, and you guys! Don't forget to navigate the advertised websites located around my blog page. It only takes about 30 seconds, and it is going toward a good cause, so click away!!
If I could change anything about college, I would put escalators in place of all the stairs and cancel classes on raining and cold days. You really don’t realize how out of shape you are until you are forced to walk the LSB steps. I had the privilege of hearing about the short cut through Brooks Hall before starting college, but the elevators aren’t always reliable. I have to walk about half a mile to and from my car everyday, and that includes a hill that runs literally vertical. This makes the rain and coldness about 10 times worse. I really have no clue what I am going to do once it starts snowing! Other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing. The people are great, there’s plenty of free stuff , and free wifi!! Many people like to brag about the PRT, but I’m going to be completely honest. The PRT is not a reliable source of transportation between campuses, and they break down at least 5 times daily. My best advice to you, take all your classes on one campus so you don’t have to worry about being late.
For everyone questioning what college to attend, I highly recommend West Virginia University, home of the Mountaineers! They have a large variety of majors, and is the #1 school for multiple majors. WVU is a great choice, no matter what you plan on majoring in! Apply today!
