My First P0$T

I was in a similar place as John freshman year. Maybe not hate, but constantly wondering if there was somewhere I would better fit, if I could have achieved admittance to a university with a more established pedigree. It probably took me until the end of sophomore year that I would never be able to give up the friends I have made, and would not change my choice of Quinnipiac for the world.

Freshman year is stressful for a variety of reasons. On the other hand it is important to remember that every year of your life you think you know stress until the next year comes and you wonder how you were so naive to think you didn't have it easy.

There are a couple of important dates that most students become aware of when they arrive at college:
The first week: Honeymoon, everyone is awesome, everything is cool, meeting tons of new people everyday but ipso facto forgetting about tons of people just having met them.
3-5 weeks in: Hell week. Remember those nice people? Did they ever really exist?
Right before thanksgiving: Sorry ladies, Turkey Drop.
Right before winter break: Good riddance college! Finals are really hard when you're grown up, and by now you and your room/suite mates have inevitably had your first real fight.
Winter break: Wondering why you ever wanted to leave college in the first place? Home is just the same old people and everyone is telling stories about people that no one else knows. LAME.
After Winter Break: Relief to see your new, cooler friends, but there is more nagging in your minds with doubts. (On a personal note, I routinely suffer from what I refer to as Post-Christmas depression).
the whole effin' semester: (at a school in New England) Holy Shit winter is long. And the semester is dragging its feet right in turn.
At last! Spring! Wow, this completely redeems the whole year. Its hot, there are plenty of girls and boys showing plenty of skin, hanging out on the quad, the whole school it seems!
Right before the end of the year: Finals are the tough. Their stress adds to the pre-traumatic anticipation stress of knowing you have to leave everyone, including that person you've been hooking up with for awhile. (w/ a bf/gf is different, most of the time, and I honestly cannot say I know how it feels to return to someone after months, but I would imagine it creates a dichotomy between school and home life that must be just as stressful)

And there you go folks, a very general freshman year. Generally, this cycle is repeated to a lesser degree every year of college, because you meet new people in new housing situations, classes, etc.

What can you do to mitigate some of these stressors? Get Involved. Everyone has their own avenues, I too am in a fraternity; Sigma Phi Epsilon. (not sure that was an appropriate usage of a semi-colon) While some people choose to hate on other greek organizations, I have nothing but the utmost respect for ∆T∆ and their members, chapter, and philanthropic efforts. Some of the best people I know are delts. As long as you avoid TK∑ you should be fine! Just kidding, seriously just go with what makes you happy.
Making friends is the most important part of college. I routinely make choices that limit the time I have available for my studies in order to maintain a well balanced approach to my college experience. This is an important thing to realize, and a great answer to why my GPA isn't higher in interviews.
By the way, I'm in Italy, and it is one in the afternoon and I haven't eaten. So I am going to go make some delicious prosciutto di parma e uove fritte.