"Help Me I'm Poor"; Sh*t You Will Experience During Your First Year In College

Your first year in college can be a bit of a whirlwind and you will experience a lot of things for the first time. These experiences shape you and by the end of your time in college you might have even become a different person, well that's the idea anyway. Here are things you will experience your first year of college.

21) Being incredibly broke

When you were younger you had money from your parents to get you through life, but now that you're in college you will experience a whole new level of broke. It will be hard to get by on a daily basis and you will continually go for the cheapest food option no matter how shit it tastes. You will have a new appreciation for home cooked meals when you get home.

20) Feeling inadequate when you realise everyone is just as good as you

So you have this grand idea that because you were the best in your class in school that you will be the same in college. You will definitely coming crashing down to earth if you think you'll be the best in the class.

 19) Your accommodation not even meeting your lowest expectations

Unless you pay ridiculous amounts, odds are your student accommodation will be a huge let down. There will be random stains everywhere, dirty dishes and if you're living with a slob, there will be clothes all over the place. Keep your expectations low (really low) and you might be able to survive in your student accommodation.

18) Feeling guilty after missing one of your lectures

When you miss your first few lectures for one reason or another ( being hungover) you will feel really guilty. This will soon dissipate and by the time you get to second year and missing lectures becomes commonplace, guilt will be the last thing that crosses your mind. Anything is worth staying in bed when you should be in class.

17) Forgetting you had an assignment and having to do it the night before

16) Going into college and not going to any of your lectures

Sometimes it just happens and you go on and don't feel like going to your lectures. You meet people from class and you end up talking to them instead of going to lectures. You just hang around campus doing nothing in particular and by the end of the day  you feel more productive than when you go to your lectures.

15) Sitting in on one of your friend's lectures

If you have a big break during the day and you meet up with a friend you will end up going to one of their lectures, or else the bar. It's actually interesting going to a lecture that you know nothing about. I went to an English lecture before and although I didn't know exactly what was going on, I still paid more attention than in any of my lectures.

14) Feeling like shit after a night out

One of the lowest points during college is when you go out and then you have a lecture in the morning. You give into the peer pressure even though you know you have a 9am lecture in the morning. You will experience this no matter what and when your drunken haze settles, you will realise; it was totally worth it.

13) Falling asleep in a lecture

It will eventually happen, you wake up when the lecture is over and you forget what you were doing there in the first place . If you're sitting up the back of the class, then it's really easy to get away with, but you have to be a bit more discreet if you're near the front.

12) Giving up on an assignment and accepting failure

So you have procrastinated long enough and now you have to make a decision whether to do it or not. There comes a point where you know you're going to fail the class so you just accept defeat. Even though you will end up doing repeats, you couldn't really handle doing it at that time so you left it.

11) Asking for an extension when it's two weeks late

Somehow you forgot about an assignment and now it's two weeks late and you still have the balls to ask the lecturer for an extension. You have to make up some bullshit excuse so you can get an extension. You start by doing all your assignments on time, but eventually you keep submitting them later and later and later....

10) The walk of shame after a one night stand

These things happen, especially in college, It will be quite obvious when your hair is a mess and you're wearing the same hoodie you wore yesterday. You're expected to hook up in college, just make sure you don't hang around for too long after. It is called a one night stand for a reason.

 9) Staying in bed when you know you should go to your lecture

This will happen a goods few times throughout the year, where staying in bed just seemed like a better option. No matter how hard you try and pull yourself out of bed, you just end up lying there... All fucking day! The first few times you do it you feel guilty, but eventually you couldn't care less and will always take the easy option.

 8) Forgetting where your lecture is on

Whether your brain gets scrambled or you think your lecture is just somewhere completely different, this will definitely happen. You spend about twenty minutes trying to find it and then when you eventually get there, everyone stares at you like you have three heads.

7) Taking notes and not having a clue what they're about

So you take some notes in class so you can look back over them during exam time, but then you realise that they're are all over the place. It's just random words and terms that make no sense out of context. You should just stick to the lecture slides because they will be less incoherent. It will be probably be more productive if you just listen, but we know how hard it is for students to just listen for 5 minutes let alone 50...

6) Consuming enough coffee to last you a lifetime

Now I'm not a coffee drinker myself, but the queue for the coffee machine in the morning was ridiculous. So if you're a coffee drinker, you will need a cup to wake you up in the morning. Be prepared to spend all your money on cups of coffee and get used to mid morning jitters.

5) Having to use those student discounts

There will come a point in your first year that you really don't have the money to be buying subway so you have to use your student discounts. There is no shame in it, in fact that's what they're there for and once you leave college you can wave them goodbye. There is no reason to scoff at a chicken fillet roll and a can of coke for €3.00.

4) Living in the library come exam time

Everyone has the same idea as you so it's important to get in there as early as you. Once you get a seat you can keep if for the day and "study". Your time will be split up like this: 80% Facebook, 10 % Twitter, 7% Staring out the window and 3% study. You miss classes just so you can procrastinate in the library and pretend that you're working.

3) Enjoying your elective more than what you actually study

I did and elective in Film studies when I was in college, it was one of the best lectures I had. I looked forward to going to it and often went more than the ones I had to go to. So, if you picked an elective that you think is interesting you may find yourself actually enjoying it more unexpectedly.

2) Feeling claustrophobic at a college party

Student accommodation is not known for being spacious, so when a room is packed with lots of students it starts to feel a bit cramped.  It's a great place to get to know new people, but you're usually squashed together when you're talking to them. It's always good to get outside and get some air because it can get pretty hot and sweaty, unless of course you're into that sort of thing!

1) The mixed feelings of pure freedom and dread when you finish your exams

It's a strange experience when you finish your exams, on the one hand you're completely free, on the other hand, you have no idea what to do for 3 months. At first you're delighted, you don't have to worry about studying for anything, but you soon realise that things can get very boring, very quickly. As a good as it sounds, maybe sleeping in until 3 every day isn't the best way to spend your time off from college.