The First Month of Adulting

Okay friends, family, future friends, random people I've never met... It's officially been a month since my first day of college. A lot has happened and a lot has changed. I still can't fully comprehend that I'm in college and living on my own. This blog post has taken me five-ever to write because I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to do this. I started off with going to write about my first week, and then I started writing for the month week by week but I figured that would be too boring so I'm just going to do list of top 10 things I've learned for my first month.

#1 You Can Do It:

College seems daunting and scary but it really isn't that bad! My first day I was the typical freshman, beyond scared of going to the wrong classroom and getting lost. Luckily my brother and I walked through the campus the day before so I was okay! Honestly I can say that high school definitely prepared me, so shoutout to my rockin' 11th grade Honors English Teacher (I won't name her here because I'm pretty sure most of this is grammatically incorrect and it's not her fault). In English 101 so far we have done a lot of annotating and literature responses which I already knew what to do so it was awesome because I was actually ahead of the class. College is a lot of work, but if you manage your time correctly, you'll be okay. In one of my classes basically half are married and the other half are in a serious relationship or engaged. It honestly doesn't matter how old you are because if it clicks, it clicks, don't worry about being the youngest in the class. You've got this... If I of all people can do it, you can do it.

#2 Make Friends:

You will not survive college or even a week if you don't make friends with your roommates or someone from one of your classes. The first week or so I was beyond bored because I felt like all I was doing was homework and watching Netflix. Don't get me wrong this was all good and fun till I finished the final season of Friends and that's when I realized I didn't have any friends yet. So I put on my big girl panties and started talking to kids outside of my room. So I've met some fabulous people so far and I haven't died in the process which has helped! Also when you have friends then you have people to do stuff with (shocker I know). Me and one of my new friends went to a concert last weekend and it was honestly such a good time. If I hadn't reached out to try and make friends than I would've either not gone to that AMAZING concert or gone with my older brother which probably wouldn't have been as fun (sorry Devin). Also having someone to make brownies at midnight with and someone to roast marshmallows over the stove with at 1:30 is an absolute must have. So get out there and meet people.

#3 Wear Comfortable Shoes:

Okay so when I was back in California, my dad got me some really cute shoes. Little did I know, these would ruin my life. Especially since I don't have a car, I walk literally everywhere except Walmart. So one day I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and wear other shoes besides my always trustworthy converse. This was one of the worst mistakes I have made since I've been here. My feet formed, popped and bled through my beautiful new WHITE shoes with lovely blisters all within the 20 min it takes to walk to all my classes and back. Since dress code is taken very seriously here, I walked completely out of the way off campus just to take my shoes off to walk back to my apartment barefoot. So wear comfortable shoes, you won't regret it at all. Side note: blisters take a really long time to heal if they've been popped so get cute bandaids to show off your heels... this is also a great conversation starter because people will ask what happened to you!!

#4 Make Memories:

This title should probably say "Make Brownies at Midnight" or "Just Run Through The Sprinklers" My motto this month has basically been "I need to be able to tell my kids I did cool stuff!" So yes this meant that I made brownies at midnight, ate cake on the kitchen floor, ran through sprinklers, rode the elevator for 10-15 minutes just on the floor sitting, went and watched the sunset, had ice cream for dinner, went to some random guys apartment to watch a movie because some guy in the elevator invited us, drove 45 minutes to eat Panda Express, raced down the hallways in desk chairs, watched about a million movies, gossiped till 2:30 am, wore sandals in the snow/hail on purpose and most importantly drink milk straight out of the carton. This isn't even half of everything. Cherish everything, live a little, and have fun. These are your glory days. That $6 dollars you pay for a concert is worth it. Also that $10 you spend on strictly sweets is definitely worth it especially when you get those late night munchies.

#5 Take Advantage of Free Stuff:

Okay this is pretty self explanatory but this should just apply to life. The second weekend I was here it was Free National Parks week so my roommates and I and some guys went on an adventure to Yellowstone. It was honestly so gorgeous and amazing seeing Bison/Buffalo/Moosin all up in your face. Lets just say that some carrots may or may not have fallen out of someones hand forcefully out of the window towards these beautiful creatures on this trip... Also, heres the video of this amazing trip because it was bomb...

Basically take advantage of the free hot dogs, popsicles, and anything food like or any awesome free adventure. Probably stay away from the free Walmart shuttle just because, well it is what it sounds like. Fun doesn't have to cost anything so find stuff to do for free.

#6 Drop That Class:

No this does not mean drop your foundation classes needed to graduate. This simply means DON'T TAKE CLASSES THAT WON'T HELP YOU AND WILL WASTE YOUR TIME!!!! unless its a class you need, because everyone has to go through that. But seriously don't take College Success 106, it was basically like a group therapy session with a bunch of weirdos (except one cute guy that ended up dropping the class). This was the one class that I was taking that I absolutely hated, I dreaded Tuesdays from 10:15-11:15 for three weeks. After the third week, I called my parents and told them how much agonizing pain I was in from taking this class. Then I found out how to drop the class, AND IT WAS SO EASY. This was such a good decision and I won't ever regret it. I added an auto class instead which is way more beneficial. Now when I do my homework for my auto class I'm pretty sure I look like a majestic girl working on cars. (I'm sorry I don't know why I'm like this but I really feel this way).

#7 Don't Judge a Persons Age By Their Looks:

This is the typical "don't judge a book by its cover" crap and I apologize for the inconvenience of this section, but it needs to happen. That 12 year old looking girl in your class that looks like she's eaten too much chocolate is really 29 and pregnant with her 3rd child. Also that guy that looks 30 is really just barely 18 and his voice still hasn't dropped even if he has a gnarly mustache going on. Basically you can't judge how old someone is until you introduce yourself or they explain their whole life story to the class. (unfortunately this happens). I also think that this concept works in my favor when those 21 yr olds start talking to me not realizing I'm only 17. It bawfals my mind on the daily how many people are married or engaged here and they're all so young. I guess I just wasn't prepared for that as much as I thought I was. ALSO THAT ANNOYING DUDE IN YOUR CLASS NO ONE LIKES IS MARRIED!!! I guess theres someone for everyone so my hats off to them. Age is weird thats all.

#8 I'm Not Old Enough To Buy Superglue:

So yes I can live on my own, miles away from my parents, make my own meals, attend college, dress myself, buy stuff online, have my own thoughts... but no, I am not old enough to buy superglue. No mom I didn't want the superglue because I wanted to get high. All I wanted was to fix my lokai bracelet that keeps breaking. The guy at the register didn't even ask for my ID so I could've lied but I wasn't smart enough. SO S/O to Becky J for raising me an honest gal, because of you I can't buy superglue. It would have been so easy to lie but once I realized that, it was too late. Legally I'm also not able to sign forms for a lab class or anything so I'm glad I didn't sign up for those classes otherwise I would've had to have my brother be my guardian. Lol @ my life.

#9 Get Involved:

One of the things I was really upset about was not being able to play volleyball in college. BYU-Idaho has an amazing intramural program though so my brother started a team and it has been amazing. Our team hasn't won yet but it has been so fun just playing again. I've met some pretty great people so far so I'm excited to join more sports in the near future. There is so many opportunities and activities that go on around campus that everyone should get involved in somehow. Its given me something to look forward to so I'm not just eating and watching New Girl in my room. I know the is the typical advice everyone gives everyone before starting high school/ college but it really does help. Even if you don't join anything, watching the games is always fun too. So go out there and do something with your life.

#10 Fall In Love With Your Studies:

There has been so many different times where I'm walking around on campus after a class or going to play volleyball and I just can't help but smile and be super excited. But then it gets awkward because I'm trying not to smile, but I'm so happy I can't help it and I become that one dork walking around campus smiling that everyones creeped out by. But seriously I just feel like I've fallen in love with learning. I know I'm supposed to be up here on campus for this semester with my roommates and the classes I'm taking. College is amazing and it really does get better after high school... trust me its only been a month and its already 1000x better. Basically just find as subject that you love (for me its business) and run with it. Learning is amazing and everyone should fall in love with it in some way shape or form. It's amazing how when your perspective changes about something your whole world changes.

That's all I have for you guys, I feel like theres so much more I want to share but I'm not really sure if you guys care because that would've been an extremely long post. Let me know what you guys want to hear about next through comments or the contact section because I would love to get your feedback! This would help also so I won't have to go through twitter polls to see what I should do (because I'm pretty sure most of those people that vote on those hate me). ANYWAYS I love everyone who read this far!!

- ally b