One month into college, she had not yet settled down. She herself was puzzled about it. Just four months back, she and her friends had waited for their +2 results and impatiently the taste of college life too.
She remembered how everyone had waited to shake away the steel grip of school on their life.
College was what they showed in movies. It meant freedom and fun. It meant new exciting friends. It meant being appreciated by the opposite gender. It meant one could walk in and out of the classes and get a "proxy" attendance.
And yet the first day at college had left her disappointed.
It was not just the fear of ragging- the tightening of muscles when one encountered a bunch of "senior"-looking students. It was not just the unfamiliarity of the environment-few schoolmates were with her in the same college or in the same stream.
It was not even the vastness of campus with its many blocks and buildings.
As she had returned home, she asked herself-why her dreams of college seemed remote? Why even after one month of college, she felt like school was better?
By now she had made friends both boys and girls. The class had developed a kind of camaraderie.
But it was not the same. College was disappointing for her.The teachers were better at school."College is too big". There are two many people.
"The campus is great but it does not have a HEART".
Settling into college may not be the fun it often appears to be. The movies show you the fun dimension. But nothing is one-dimensional: there are many aspects to college life that a movie does not show.
The college is a microcosm of the real adult world. When you enter into a college, it's just your first small step into this new world.
It's bigger and more importantly, it is impersonal and cold.
Here faculty may not know you by your name or face even three years after you join.
Your classmates have not grown with you over the years. Nor does everyone come from homes similar to yours. Suddenly your classroom has morphed into the larger lecture halls. Now your classmates have grown in numbers and "strangers" and your lectures appear distant and remote.
Naturally you feel you do not belong.
All changes are difficult to take.
The trick to get around this problem is to approach college without expectations.
Be ready to accept what you find.
Never compare it with school.From school to college is a giant leap, you can't carry the school on your back.Leave it behind.
Recall the good times and savor every minute.
But never compare the two and make yourself miserable.....