Freshman Year Rookie Mistakes That Still Haunt Me

Alright, so I just gotta say—freshman year was a *train wreck* in the best (and worst) ways. Honestly, I’ve seen some pretty iconic mistakes that I swear are straight out of a sitcom, but nope, all real stories. Strap in, this is a mess I still cringe about.

So, there I was, totally convinced I was the smartest, coolest kid to ever step on campus. Freshman orientation was a blur of free pizza, awkward icebreakers, and trying to impress everyone by pretending I knew what I was doing. Well, spoiler—you don’t.

First week, I thought I was pretty slick. Had my schedule printed out, looked up all my classes, even bought a fancy planner to look "professional." Turns out, I got so obsessed with being prepared that I ignored the fact I was supposed to *know* where the classes were. So, day one, I show up at my English class... only to realize it’s not even the right building. I spend fifteen minutes wandering around, looking like a lost puppy. The professor finally spots me looking confused and basically points me to the other side of campus. Classic.

Then, there was the infamous “bring your own pillow” incident. I had no idea dorms were that small, and I figured, hey, I’ll just take a quick nap after classes. Nope. Thought I was being sneaky by hiding it behind my bed frame. Well, turning around one time, I accidentally knocked the damn pillow off, and it BOUNCED off the bed onto the hallway floor, making a noise loud enough to wake the dead.

And let’s talk about food. Oh god, the food. I didn’t realize freshman 15 was totally real until week two. I thought, “Eh, I’ll eat what I want, it’s college!” Then I looked in the mirror and realized I had doubled in size—mainly because I was living off those hot dog roller things and microwave ramen. I swear, I lived on ramen and $1 pizza for about two months. My stomach still hates me.

Speaking of money, I also learned the *hard* way that it’s a *bad* idea to lend your snack stash to everyone. Like, I had a secret mini fridge in my room, and somehow, I ended up trusting this new friend to keep my Oreos safe. Next thing I know, I wake up to an empty fridge and a note that says “Thanks for the snacks lol.” Like, bro, those were *mine*. Since then I learned to hide things better, but honestly, I was so naive.

Oh, and the *best* mistake: trying to "impress" my roommate by cooking dinner. I had no clue how to actually cook, so I thought, “Hey, let’s make spaghetti.” How hard can it be? Well, I forgot to check if the pot was clean, so I threw in some dried pasta and water. Turns out, I put the pasta in *dirty* water from last night (it was in the sink). The result? A starchy, slimy mess that I somehow managed to burn to the bottom of the pot. My roommate walks in, sees the chaos, and just says, “Bro, you’re gonna kill yourself with that attitude.” Pretty sure I almost did.

But the *worst* mistake—oh man, it’s kinda embarrassing to admit—I went to a party thinking I was all cool because I knew a few people. I brought my *own* drink, feeling so proud of myself. Turns out, it was spiked with something I couldn’t identify because I was so nervous. I ended up spending most of the night awkwardly sitting in a corner, trying not to fall over, while people made fun of how “lame” I was for not drinking alcohol. Yeah, I learned fast—I am *not* cool enough to be at college parties yet.

Honestly, looking back, all those mistakes make me laugh now. College was just about surviving those awkward moments and realizing nobody has it all figured out. That first year? It’s messy, it’s embarrassing, and yeah, it’s a total disaster—but also one of the funniest, most eye-opening times of my life.

And now I kinda miss it. Well, maybe not the ramen, but definitely the chaos.