It's the first day, the first day of september, and, for some, the first day of independence. It starts like every other morning, get up have breakfast (or not) and it ends with tears, new peers and fears.
This is the transition to post-secondary, sometimes long journeys are involved...and sometimes not. Whichever journey you take it's bound to be stressful.
So I'm sharing my experience as I get used to everything post-secondary. First off is the two months of preperation that seems to accompany every straight out of highschool freshman. If your parents are doting, and over-protective then it's likely they'll get most of the stuff and take care of all the important work. If not well, you're stuck out of luck, you're going to have to gather kitchen supplies, bathroom supplies, bedroom supplies and most importantly food, oh yeah I suppose a few school supplies would be handy to have as well.
The second step is packing it all into the damn car, or minibus depending on how much stuff you decide to bring with you. I tried my best to minimilize but I forgot to put my parents on a leash. Now, fair warning, this step is even more difficult if you're flying out to school, what with the limits on luggage. I have no advice aside from pack only clothes and a clock radio, oh and a laptop, those are more important than your life. After everything is in its proper packaging you'll have to pack it into the car, bus, plane, etc. Then, after everything has somehow been wedged into a small transportation device, you'll be off.
Third step is not snapping at everyone because of nerves, this is especially important when dealing with your parents. Nerves are wound up tightly during this time and you're not the only one feeling an insane amount of pressure and anxiety. I nealry snapped at my poor mum, if I had I know she would have felt heartbroken. Last day of seeing your kid and your final memory is them yelling at you? Not such a nice thought, weighs heavily on the heart if you know what I mean.
Next step is, move in day. Some schools are really well organized and it won't be so much of a zoo, then there are others where you want to bash your skull in with whatever's nearby. It may take anywhere from 5 to 20 trips to get everything into the place, that's a good two hours gone. Then you have to organize and place everything in it's rightful place which adds another hour and a half or so onto your time, depending on how organized you like to be.
Fifth step is metting your roommates if you have any, and if you don't try meeting your hall mates. You'll probably gain a few friends and if you do have roommates it's best to set boundaries. One rule my roommates have given me is to not scold them when they aren't fully dressed. I agreed on the condition that I can walk freely in whatever i decide whether that's with pants and a shirt or not. Another was where kitchen supplies go, we went with everyone gets their own shelf space. Chores we haven't divided yet but I think I'm on dish duty judging from how I did most of the dishes today.
Then there is the dreaded sixth step which is always the hardest. You have to say goodbye. There may be tears or small forced smiles but you'll get by, it's not like you'll never see them again. It's only a month or maybe eight depending the distance and with this age of communication you can never be without contact of some kind. Whether you have a ten minute phone call, five minute skype call, text them every day, or send an email. They're never truly gone from your life.
Seventh step, finding out the personalities of your roommates. Sure you've dealt with the greetings and learning where they stand academically but you don't really know them. Take mine for instance, at first everything was great, they're nice, friendly, the whole 'hey these guys are awesome' package but later on is when trouble hits.
The problem I had: We all seemed to be on the same wave-length until parties were involved. We had all said how we weren't the most social people but then when someone asks if they want a drink and to party in room 505 they're off. Then I get them nagging at my anti-social butt to join some obnoxious party. Now some parties I'll admit are pretty damn fun but the way these guys were yelling and shouting it's like they had just discovered alchohal and girls for the first time. They ran down the halls knocking on doors, disturbing the few anti-socials from their sleep. This one girl I talked to even came out of her room to yell at them but seeing five, six foot tall men outside your door when you are a five foot something female is pretty intimidating, so she went back and locked herself away. I probably should have done something upon seeing that but these guys obviously worked hard on their bodies and no way was a five foot three teen going to be able to stop these guys. So I've locked the two doors that lead to mine and am currently looking for a small plushed look-a-like of my cat. Yes, I have a cat. A small rather stupid feline.
And finally the eighth step, Sleep. I don't think I have ever felt so tired as I do right now. It's likely that after dealing with all of this, you'll want as many Z's as you can get. Which is exactly what I plan to do right now.
