Palm trees, the beach, and the exciting cities of Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Miami. Those were the first thoughts that entered my head when I first stepped foot onto Florida Atlantic University’s Boca Raton campus.
I had always wanted to explore new territory after I graduated from high school, and I did exactly that. I went from New Jersey to Florida, which at the time was a very big step for me.
When I first got to college, I embraced it with open arms, expecting a liberating experience. I lived on campus in a tiny room in the Timucua residence hall.
The walls didn’t go all the way up, and there was a weird funk that seemed to linger in the hallways. It was no Hotel Renaissance, but I made the best of it.
It was quite an experience to share a room with a complete stranger who would talk to his girlfriend from back home until four or five o’clock in the morning.
Most of the time, it wouldn’t bother me because I didn’t get back to my dorm until the wee hours of the morning. However, there were occasions, especially around finals time, when I was trying to be responsible and get some well-deserved sleep and he would mess it all up. Then he had the nerve to ask me why I was sleeping in the afternoons when he was trying to rock out to System of a Down.
My newfound independence definitely took a toll on my academic life. Without my dad to guide me, hangover days and sleepless nights dominated my experience. Many times I would promise myself that I would stop missing class and get my act together.
Most often my promises were made in vain. Who wants to go to class when the sun is shining and the beach is a mere ten minutes away?
Being broke was another problem I had to adapt to. Dining off-campus and partying depleted my funds and I was forced to eat at the cafeteria. I think I can speak for a large majority of freshmen when I write that the cafeteria food is downright disgusting. I still don’t understand why students living on campus have to pay for the meal plan. If you ask me, it’s an awful injustice.
My freshman year is over. Thank heavens, because I don’t have enough money to pay for all the classes I would have to retake if I did it again. My dad put his foot down and threatened to stop paying for my tuition if I didn’t get better grades. I tried to tell him all my other friends did badly too, but that just made him more angry.
I got my act together and am now a serious sophomore with a goal to succeed in life. I went through a lot of friends because it was difficult to adjust to the attitudes of people I hadn’t known for a long time. It was all worth it in the end, though, because I met some crazy people who I feel like I have known my whole life.
This is dedicated to all of those freshmen who underwent a radical metamorphosis in the frame of a couple months, especially those from out of state, because I can empathize. It’s difficult when you don’t have the safety net of family and high school friends to fall back on in times of crisis.
Hats off to everyone who didn’t come here just to learn! Life is all about experiences, and once this chapter of our lives ends, we will have to shoulder a lot of responsibilities.
I don’t know anyone who likes everything about FAU. The tuition is high, the construction is an inconvenience, and when driving one must constantly be on the lookout for the elderly. But you have to take the good with the bad. There’s sun, fun, clubs, and classes; it’s all about what you make of it.
