We’ve all been there: the famous first year of college. If you’ve seen any of the countless comedies set in colleges then you probably entered Trinity with a certain picture in your head, before quickly realising that the reality is a stark contrast from what you’d come to expect.
Not so long ago, I came to Trinity with no expectations whatsoever and absolutely no idea of how to go about everything. A year off after school had given me a new set of experiences and adventures, but I was as unprepared for the experience of college as the next person. The first walk through Front Arch into Front Square was nothing short of awe-inspiring, and Freshers’ Week played a big part in settling me in, but – as we have all come to know in our own ways – the experience of Trinity is much more than this. No two stories are the same. Some of us found our best friends on the first day, some the love of our lives. Some spent Freshers’ Week shut in their room, and others have no memories of it aside from that awkward stranger they shifted and never texted back. For some, it’s the first step in a well-organised life plan, and for others it’s a road to self-discovery. It can be in equal parts a nightmare, a journey away from a comfortable space, and a road to a more accomplished self.
I’m no master of life, and I definitely haven’t cracked the key to a successful year in college, yet in that uncertainty lies the beauty of it. You can be anyone and achieve nearly everything you want in college, as long as you work for it. Though this ethos may be the key to most things in life, I didn’t know that until I came here. My first year broadened my horizons and lent me a novel perspective on the big, bad world. However, it would be a lie to say that it was all easy. College is tough and definitely takes some getting used to, yet it’s amazing how complete strangers end up being some of the most important people in our lives. We start college with a clean slate and take away from it an exclusive set of memories and lessons that – much like the typical cliché – only experience could have taught us.
It can be in equal parts a nightmare, a journey away from a comfortable space, and a road to a more accomplished self
The people we meet and the people that stick with us make us better versions of ourselves, and what may seem impossible – like getting through all of the stress and intensity of first year in one piece – can eventually turn into a plausible outcome with the right friends on your side. I thought the senior years of school had shown me what friends were, and yet college challenged my definitions of friendship. It is only here that I have realised what true friendship looks like.
But I don’t want to sound too philosophical. I’ve been the awkward freshman with the fear of being alone. I’ve worried about being a small fish in this big pond. I’ve had my fair share of disasters and I have yet to experience a big piece of this life, but I feel a bit more ready than I was for it and I have a whole set of people and experiences to thank for that. A friend once told me that the only thing missing from life was a background musical score and so that’s why they invented Walkmans. I’m not exactly sure if that was the reasoning behind it, but here is what I leave you with: Put yourself out there. Make the most of what you have and live in each moment. Put your phone down for a second and let that Snapchat story be. Walk down the street and let the music be your score. You are the protagonist of your own story and you always will be, so write your own end as you see best. First year in Trinity taught me a lot of things, but it was this that I realised the most.
