Once, towards the end of freshman year, I slipped on a banana peel. While walking along the sidewalk in front of Arjona, I was not paying attention, and I kid you not, I slipped on a banana peel and fell, hard. (Amar Batra/The Daily Campus)
Freshman year of college is exactly everything you thought it would be, and nothing you planned on encountering. Yes, there will be the times you sit through 90 minute lectures before you realize that you are in the wrong class, but you will come to realize that these cliche and uncomfortable situations lead you to the best aspects of college, and become some of your most cherished memories.
One of the most important skills you’ll need to learn upon entering college is how to laugh at yourself, whether that be in the moment, or in a retelling.
Freshman year I lived in North Campus. North has many pros and cons: its location is convenient, but its laundry room, not so much. The first time I did laundry at school, I did not realize that half of the dryers were out of order.
This means that I placed my wet laundry in a broken dryer, did not know what to do when the machine did not start, but felt too awkward to take my clothes out and place them in another dryer. Therefore, I walked out, waited 20 minutes, and then went back in to find an operative dryer, hoping no one in there recognized me.
My laundry fiasco was mortifying, and an absolute waste of an afternoon, but it makes a damn good story.
Another key aspect of freshman year, particularly if you arrive on campus knowing practically zero people, is mastering the pretend texting. Come on, we all know there is nothing THAT interesting happening on Snapchat, you’re just pretending to look busy, and I respect it.
Once, towards the end of freshman year, I slipped on a banana peel. It was like a classic slap-stick scene out of a bad sitcom. Reading a biography of Alexander Hamilton while walking along the sidewalk in front of Arjona, I was not paying attention, and I kid you not, I slipped on a banana peel and fell, hard.
Perhaps the most trying aspect of freshman year is navigating the roommate territory. Are you supposed to be friendly, or friends? When are you supposed to give them privacy? It takes freshman year to figure these questions out.
Julia Cobuzzi, a seventh-semester nutrition major, related a story of her freshman year roommate experience. “Freshman year my roommate asked where I was and when I would be coming back to the room,” Cobuzzi said. “So I just thought she wanted to hang out and I came back, unlocked the door, and walked in on her and her boyfriend.” One can infer what the pair were up to.
Whatever your first semester struggles may be, take comfort in the fact that we have all experienced these freshman trials.
As a part of adjustment and acclimating to the college environment, learn from these embarrassing first year memories. Then, use them in an article for thousands to read.
Abby Brone is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at abigail.brone@uconn.edu.
