Everything I need to know about life

College is a rite of passage, a cherished experience that heralds the arrival of adulthood. For many, it’s a path leading to enlightenment, both personal and academic. For others, it is a series of mishaps, misadventures, and mistakes that morph us into responsible adults ready to face the challenges of the world. Whatever your path, one thing is clear: everything you need know to live the rest of your life you learn on the first day of college.

Now let’s be frank: college is an inspiring, exciting, mesmerizing, and oftentimes “wet-your-pants” scary experience. At the very first moment, the life lessons begin. Whose life would be complete without learning how to fit as much stuff as he or she can into a room the size of a car? Ridiculous as it is, every first-year embraces the cluttered small space, feigning true satisfaction when describing his or her eager surroundings to friends, as if this dorm were any different from any other first-year dorm on the planet. So the first lesson is learned—make the best of your surroundings, and if you pretend hard enough, you’ll actually believe that your dorm room is intended for two adults to share.

What you learn doesn’t stop there: dorm life lends itself to teaching myriad lessons. Let’s start at the bathroom. How anyone can spend so much time in a shower is beyond me. Back home, when my brother said I took too long in the shower I just quipped some inane insult and ignored his wisecrack remarks. Now, sitting and waiting for the next free shower, I am thinking not only about the task at hand but also about water in general. The common bathroom gives new meaning to the idea of water waste. As I hear the toilets flush and the showers hum, I can’t help but wonder how much water we are wasting. Dorm life not only introduces you to college life, but it makes you aware of the bigger picture: the world no longer revolves around you. Environmental awareness and responsibility take on a new meaning, and another life lesson is learned as the toilet is flushed and the shower is finally free.

Food gains new importance in college as well. There is suddenly an overabundance of easily available food at almost every hour. The “freshman fifteen” is uttered at every turn of the buffet table, yet the unassuming freshmen laugh as though they have some immunity against the wrath of the meal plan. Even on the first day, the patterns emerge: trying to relieve the stress and fatigue of move in, we congregate at John Jay or Hewitt admiring the neatly arranged sandwiches. The meal reminds me of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” as we fill our dishes with food that we really have no intention of consuming. We sit down with new friends in a new environment, put the food in our mouths, and are suddenly overwhelmed by a familiar safe feeling that reminds us of home. The stress of the day goes away, and we realize that food becomes synonymous with home, regardless of whether or not the taste leaves much to be desired. And before we know it, the combination of easy free food, stress, and lack of exercise leads to the freshman fifteen. They say this is a pattern that is repeated throughout life, and imagine, I learned all about it on my first day of college.

Outside of the first day, there are many more life lessons that somehow visit us during our various trials and tribulations. For example, you realize right after the first set of exams that life is not fair. All those trophies that were given to you for good sportsmanship, even though you lost the game, are a crock. Some people are smarter, better, and luckier that you are. Just face it: the sooner you do, the better off you will be. Despite studying all day, night, and weekend you can’t make the grade. Yet your roommate, who partied every night, overslept the day of the test, and barely creased her textbook sailed to an A. Yes, my friends, life is not fair, people are lucky, and sometimes, hard work doesn’t pay off.

However, college is an experience that changes you for the better, and, truthfully, getting a ‘C’ on your biology midterm or sleeping through your 9 a.m. class three days in a row won’t mess up your entire academic career. Your days at college are numbered. Even though graduation may seem far away, four years go by very quickly, and sooner or later you will be living with someone else, paying the water bill, making dinner, and going to work. College will teach you how to tolerate others, care for the environment, be mindful of your body, manage your time, and maybe—just maybe—prepare you for the ups and downs of life.

The author is a Barnard College first-year.