13 weeks later...

College...

No one really tells you, do they?

No one tells you that the professor in Calculus is going to be scribbling stuff on the board, and you'll just be sitting there gaping at the notations, numbers, and variables and wondering what on earth the purpose of delta-epsilon notation is and trying to wrap your brain around logarithms.

No one tells you that adjusting to living with a brand new person inside of a building full of people that you don't know is going to be one of the hardest changes of your life.

No one tells you that the marching band is one of the biggest reasons why Iowa is the #2 party school, and that the culture of that band is heavily focused on parties, alcohol, and... yeah, more alcohol. And no one tells you that you'll instantly be thrown into that culture during your very first week of band camp.

No one tells you any of that stuff.

However...

You tell yourself that you're going to work hard on Calculus assignments, do lots of extra practice problems, and actually ask for help, and all of a sudden you can actually take the derivative of 3x² - √(sinx + sec²x) and actually understand what it means!

You tell yourself that it's ok to go out and chill with other people on the floor, laugh with your roommate, and have a dance party at 11:00 at night because... why not? No curfew, my homework is done, and we've almost made it through the first semester guys! Woohoo!!!

You tell yourself that this perceived "drinking" culture that's in the marching band is really not as horrible as some people make it out to be, and that it's better to go with the flow, laugh, maybe do a few stupid things, regret it (sort of) in the morning, and look back on that experience with a smile as opposed to sitting in my room all night, by myself, making zero memories.

...

13 weeks ago, no one told me that college would be any of that stuff, and if they had told me, I would've been a distraught mess.

And there have been struggles. The level of anxiety that I experienced throughout the month of September was off the charts.

But today, I can honestly say that I'm the happiest I've been in a long time. And it's all because no one told me what college would be... instead, I figured it out on my own.