Things I wish I knew before entering college
Every week, PhilSTAR L!fe explores issues and topics from the perspectives of different age groups, encouraging healthy but meaningful conversations on why they matter. This is Generations by our Gen Z columnist Angel Martinez.
Ah yes, college entrance exam results season. At the risk of sounding ancient, I have to say I remember mine like it was yesterday.
I passed my first-choice course in all of the "Big 4" universities and locked in expeditiously with my dream school and dream program. I thought I was set for life, but the truth is, I got sent to square one the moment I set foot on campus. Sure, I had my support system always but I still fell behind compared to those who had insider information or trusted upperclassmen they could model their lives after. And as if that wasn’t difficult enough, the pandemic came along. It was the hardest four years I’ve gone through.
Thankfully, I survived and learned so much.
In an attempt to save you from making the wrong kind of mistakes as you embrace a new chapter of your life, I'm sharing my freshman year starter kit of sorts. Here are some things I wish I knew before I entered college.
Take it easy. It’s a transition period.
In typical Type A/Virgo moon fashion, I spent the five-month-long summer leading up to college crafting an elaborate bucket list. Items included but were not limited to: landing a spot on the Dean’s List, joining as many orgs as humanly possible, and bagging a hot boyfriend. Looking back, it must have been the hubris that came with never being told no that made me believe I could achieve all of this effortlessly.
As expected, the inevitable freshman year slump was a sucker punch to the gut. So much of my energy went to learning to adjust to a whole new way of living, I was too spent to work towards any of my very ambitious goals. I didn’t know this was a very normal occurrence, so I often wallowed in self-pity when the current and ideal versions of myself refused to meet. But I wish I had cut myself some slack, been proud of myself for trying my best. Survival is already a pretty mean feat.
Reinvent with caution
Freed from the expectations of those who’ve known you forever, many use college as an excuse to try out new nicknames and haircuts and hobbies. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. But it’s different when we completely change our values, beliefs, and personalities for the sake of social acceptance. I know girls from my high school who put on fake accents and pretended to care about branded items, who would regularly get so drunk they would pass out in the middle of the street. They eventually developed a reputation they couldn’t get rid of. Was it worth it just to say we tried out something new?
My case was milder but the lesson learned is just the same. I had leaned a bit too hard into my Funny Girl Persona: either laughing too loud or relying on physical comedy to land a punchline. Looking back, I cringe at these bids for attention and how they failed to win me the company of the right people. If only I had been more patient in attracting my crowd… it took them a while, sure, but they came along, and the wait was very much worth it.
Your cute blockmate? Don’t even think about it
No one talks about this but there’s no greater cheat code in college than finding a decent block. Aside from the usual benefits that come with friendship, getting along with them means a solid set of groupmates and lunch buddies throughout college, as well as Linkedin connections that give you leverage in the workplace. Do not, under any circumstances, threaten this beautiful dynamic by developing a crush on someone and acting on it. You risk dividing the section into two camps forever and—if you were the one in the wrong—being an outcast, forced to seek companionship elsewhere.
Honestly, I would even take this a step further and advise against locking in with anyone so early on. University life is one of the most effective avenues for self-discovery: Now that I’m out of it, I can confidently declare that there will never be another way to meet so many people, explore so many possible interests, and engage in so many side quests with so little consequences. A partner demanding the lion’s share of your time and energy will only take you away from these rare opportunities.
Your subjects could change your life
When I entered college, I harbored fantasies of being a corporate lawyer: a marriage of my love for Legally Blonde, and my background in accountancy, business, and management. It’s a mental image that feels so distant now that I had to go through my old diaries to jog my memory. At some point, I had taken classes across other disciplines: my freshman social science class, my introduction to communications theory in sophomore year, and even consumer psychology and approaches to health literacy as a senior.
I hadn’t known it then, but these would fundamentally change the views I held dear and fuel my drive to share what I knew with a wider audience. It turns out, my interests were in sociocultural phenomena and what they had to say about who we are as people. I don’t think I would have pursued writing full-time, had it not been for these classes that tuned me into what I really cared about and my excellent professors who opened up new ways of thinking.
That seemed to be a recurring theme in my adventures as a student: thinking I knew myself and my place in the world, and then being blindsided in the best way possible. Hopefully, that’s your one grand takeaway from all of this, as you begin the crazy exciting four to five years ahead. Always allow life to surprise you.
Generations by Angel Martinez appears weekly at PhilSTAR L!fe.