How do I say this...My college life is boring?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I have officially been a freshman in college for a month now, and I feel so strange for saying this, but I am so bored all the time. During the first week, I had no complaints--there were a lot of events to keep me busy (I'm one of those people who absolutely hates sitting still and doing nothing). Now, it seems that there is nothing going on. I don't drink and I don't like to go to what one would peg as being a typical party, so my options are, in some degree, limited. Despite not being the typical "partier", I am very much into having fun, and I am somewhat of a risk-taker. I enjoy doing things that push the envelope--like getting in alligator pits (honestly, I have--it's somewhat of an awkward thing to admit) and acting for commercials. </p>

<p>I can't exactly peg what is making me so frustrated about college life. I am not homesick, and while I do miss my family, I am comfortable with being in college. I actually feel less stressed than I did in high school because I don't have to freak out about admissions decisions. At the same time, I don't really feel like I am being challenged by my classes, and I still do well without having to study that much. The truth of the matter is, I was waitlisted to my three top choice schools, so I had to go with the state school, UNC. Perhaps it was because of my lack of a crazy amount of extracurricular activities (although I did do quite a bit in high school). Not to say that UNC isn't a good school, I just don't feel as if I am being challenged academically or socially as I would be if I went to a top tier or an Ivy. I am doing a lot on campus. I work, I volunteer, I have my classes, and I am writing for a magazine, but I am still grasping for more, and I don't think any student group could necessarily do that for me. </p>

<p>I guess you could say I'm confused (if that wasn't already indicated by my rambling in this paragraph haha). Maybe I just don't relate to college students because I feel like my priorities are different from the vast majority of them (call it a quarter life crisis if you will). I just want to be able to have an impact on the world, and whenever I encourage others to break the monotony, they shy away from doing so. Or maybe it is that UNC isn't the right school for me. I am really friendly and personable, but when I get to the meat of it, I can't relate that easily with other people here--I'm too idealistic, too much of a dreamer--or so people say. A part of me wishes that I took a gap year to figure more of myself out--perhaps go overseas and do service work. Another part of me feels the need to transfer to a more challenging school in a larger city because clearly, a city of 50,000 apathetic residents isn't working out for me. And yet, another part of me says that would be a poor choice to transfer because UNC has one of the best journalism schools in the nation, and I would hate to give that up considering I am going into the field. I'm stuck, and I need a way out. I know I can get through college fine, it's the "getting through" part that scares me. </p>

<p>I doubt anyone who reads this will know what to say because I feel like I have proposed questions that are nearly as difficult as the one that asks "what is the meaning of life". Any guidance or advice you may have would be great though. Thanks for trying haha.</p>

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<p>The only thing I would suggest is to earn the best grades possible so that you have the option of applying to another school if you continue to be unhappy. It really is just a bit soon to think that you will not find your niche. Give it a full year and see how you feel at that time.</p>

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<p>You’re eighteen. You are not going to be changing the world yet (if you ever will, that is).</p>

<p>The idealism which surrounds the concept of going to college gets quashed pretty quickly. For me, it happened before college even began, and for others, it got quashed halfway through the first semester. </p>

<p>What to do about it? You can transfer, maybe, but I strongly doubt going to another top school is necessarily going to alleviate your woes. (Isn’t UNC a top school already?) It will all new and shiny at first, but then you too will realize that going to a school like Harvard or Yale isn’t as terribly exciting as they make it out to be because the students there are doing the same things as the students are at UNC. There might be more opportunities to hear famous people talk, but that isn’t going to change your life, now, right?</p>

<p>Give it some time. No one has made any friends yet either. Go to a party. Don’t drink if you don’t want to, but I do advise that you at minimum, to enjoy your youth. In twenty years, you are going to be some old suburban housewife with three kids and these questions which are appearing before now will pop up again. You try to answer them, but answering them only makes you question yourself more. And pretty soon, you are in a depressive state that no one can correct. </p>

<p>Do what you have been doing before. There is no need to transfer, and eventually you will come to enjoy your life. Do not overthink. You are still eighteen, after all.</p>

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<p>My college life didn’t really get interesting until my second year. I wasn’t into partying either, and it takes a bit longer to find a niche when you don’t do that kind of thing. Given that I don’t go to most parties, I tend to find it’s much easier to keep myself busy over the weekend with homework and personal endeavors (errands, exercise, volunteering, etc), and leave evenings during the week free for socializing-- my best friend comes over every other Tuesday-- the others I have a meeting my house (its university housing, not a sorority), every Wednesday I have two club meetings with a ton of friends, almost every Thursday I have a movie night with a bunch of friends, etc and so forth. Most kids aren’t binge drinking in the middle of the week, so leaving as much time as possible to socialize during the week while working on the weekend really opens up my options in terms of people to hang out with. Not an arrangement for everyone, but it’s the rhythm I’ve settled into this year and it’s working for me. </p>

<p>Classes do get harder in later years, and you can always start a student group if whatever you have available to you doesn’t sound interesting-- that is challenging and very rewarding. I’ve started two clubs, one my first year and one I just started this year. I have a friend who is involved in a paranormal investigation unit at her school, she does home cleansings and stuff like that. I think that’s certainly pushing the envelope. :stuck_out_tongue: You can do all sorts of stuff if you take the initiative to get it started.</p>

<p>Otherwise, I agree with momma-three. It’s too early to really tell, so do your best with your schoolwork to keep your options open, but try and make the best of the situation for what it is now. You may find it’s better than you thought if you give it time.</p>

5

<p>Obviously, if you’ve been reading threads on here the last month, you realize a surprising number of freshmen have the same issues as you, and there has been plenty of advice floating around.</p>

<p>The truth is most kids go out to parties on the weekend, even if it’s just a couple of people hanging out at a friends apartment/house. You can go to those types of things without drinking. I do have 1 close friend who doesn’t drink, and she still goes to parties. </p>

<p>Everyone feels lost at times, it’s called growing up. It’s not just you. Freshmen year is easy academically, but honestly a harder curriculmn doesn’t equal happiness. It’s nice not being stressed about school and being able to go out whenever you want. I’m sure at a big school like UNC groups have events on weeknights. For instance, every wednesday night there are free concerts at my school, and last night there was a $5 hookah night sponsored by a group, and then we went out to mi puebs. Like I said, you can go out without drinking, so don’t turn down party invites just because there is alcohol. There is plenty to do at my school, and we have 4,000 undergrads. Think about going greek. Stay open minded. Ask even newly made friends or people you’ve talked to a couple of times if they want to go out- dinner, movie, group event, concert etc;</p>

<p>You may be lost because you understand how hard it is to actually change anything, and are more of a realist than idealist.</p>