After an anxious three hour drive from our hometown, my family and I arrived at Ferris State for move in day.
We unpacked my trunk full of belongings, did a little bit of last minute shopping at Wal-Mart and rearranged the furniture in my dorm room only a few thousand times. After all of the teary-eyed goodbyes – “our baby is all grown up now!” – I finally felt like I was officially a college student.
One quick realization was Ferris students know how to party, but they also know how to work hard. Once the weekend ends, it’s all business. Coffee mugs replace red solo cups and late night cab rides are traded for homework assignments and cramming for the next big test. Quickly adapting to this lifestyle of getting fewer hours of sleep to get projects done is a must, as is having some fun on the weekends to relieve the stress of those 9 a.m. classes. I got into the routine of things sooner than I expected. Ferris started to feel like home.
As a freshman, the entire process of adjusting to this new life is no easy task. The trickiest thing for a student new to campus is trying to find everything. Between trying to figure out my mailbox and getting lost trying to find the Swann Building, there have been some rough times – and that’s before mentioning the washing machines, The Rock and shared bathrooms. There’s nothing quite like having one of your suitemates walk in on you in your birthday suit, fresh out of the shower.
Many people told me about how college would have awesome parties, boring professors and tests so hard they put the ACT to shame. No one thought to mention the struggle of walking all over campus from class to class, and early advice advice to purchase earplugs for the nights when your roommate is gargling nails in their sleep would’ve been nice. I guess college was meant to be a “learn as you go” experience.