A tale of 2 freshmen ...1 semester later

Marshall and Meyer are still young, 18 and 19, but no longer new to IU -- at least not brand new. They still live in Wright and have made it through the first semester of dorm life. They are still best friends. They are still blond and still cute, though the onset of the Indiana winter has left them slightly less tan than the beginning of the school year found them. They are both still planning on being doctors and both still working hard to do well in their challenging first year of chemistry and calculus classes. \nThe shared experiences that come with being a first-year IU student appear to end at about this time of the year, as the adventures of each individual freshman shape the college experience differently. These students, no longer strangers in a strange land, can now navigate the campus with an ease unimaginable to them just a few months ago. The freshman basics -- showering in flip-flops, Friday morning classes and midnight calls to Pizza Express -- are still common threads tying them all together. \nBut some time between August and February, the obstacles and milestones that make college what it is, and what it will be, vary. Picking and changing majors, finding loved ones, losing loved ones, getting fatter, getting smarter, getting drunker, getting greek, getting involved and getting hobbies are all variations on the freshman story.\n"I know I've changed," Meyer said. "I'm different now than I was when I started here -- more independent. I don't have to have someone telling me what to do -- not like I needed that before -- but now it's natural that I do things on my own because I need to do them."\nMarshall, too, has transformed in the course of the semester away from home. \n"I've gotten used to this ability I have here to come and go as I want," she said.\nShe has also learned how to find time in the day to do everything that needs to be done, she said. Or nearly everything, she corrected herself. Or, as she corrected again, at least pick what needs to be done and what can be put off. \n"I am better now at prioritizing, even if it means that sometimes I have to stay in on a weekend to write a paper," Marshall said. \nAnd the personal growth hasn't stopped there. \n"Also, I have definitely gained the 'Freshman 15,'" Marshall said. "That sucks." (The chicken, salads and potatoes are still a regular part of the Wright food court diet. But also, she admits, is pizza.) \nBoth roommates have been trekking to the SRSC every day in pre-spring-break preparation. Like many of their peers, they are already anticipating the welcome vacation. College, the women have discovered, is tough. \n"Classes are hard, and weekends make it even harder to go again on Monday," Meyer said."Relationships with people are hard, especially when you're this close to them all the time. It's not the party all the time that it started out to be."\nStill Adjusting\nThe Journal of Adolescent Research published an article entitled "Cognitive Complexity of Expectations and Adjustment to University in the First Year," by Mark Pancer and Bruce Hunsberger, which surveyed the perceived stress of students the August prior to the start of college and then again in February of their freshman year. \nThe challenges the researchers and authors describe include "the demands of adult independence" that freshmen face while they are learning to adjust to a world probably very different from the high school realm they just left. The experiences of moving away from home, friends and family, being forced to manage their own finances and doing their own laundry are other stresses the researchers signify -- stresses added to the academic work load, which the article asserts is often more than that associated with high school. A number of students also reported moderate to high levels of loneliness and homesickness the first year, the article said. \n"Consequently," Pancer and Hunsberger wrote, "many students experience considerable difficulty in adjusting to life at university."\nAdjustments are everywhere, even in the second semester. After participating in sorority rush, they each decided greek life was not the route for them this year, but they've have watched many friends and floormates make the opposite decision. Both Meyer and Marshall have decided to change their majors from biology -- Meyer to psychology and Marshall to psychology and microbiology. Nothing below the B-range showed up on their report cards; they each feel satisfied with their academic performance but learned from the classes they took about what their strong suits may (and may not) be. \n"It was a hard semester," Meyer said, "but now I'm not really overwhelmed. I still have to study a lot, but my time management is a lot better."\nNot every transition can be so smooth. \n"I miss home sometimes, my house and my car, because, well, 'cause home is just home," she said. "But I do love it here. And if I go to school at home, then I know I won't ever leave there."\nmaking iu home\nConstant choices and constant changes in academics, social lives and relationships typify Meyer's and Marshall's year. \n"The guys were a lot friendlier the first few weeks," said Marshall. "That's when they thought we were freshmen who were stupid and didn't know anything. Now getting into parties is harder."\nNot that balancing a social life with the studies is easy, anyway, Meyer clarifies. \n"I've met some really nice boys in classes, but I have to pay attention in class and keep up," she said. "It's not like I can hit on boys there. Plus, there are way more good-looking girls here than boys. If you actually randomly meet a boy, it's like the biggest event."\nIn the non-romantic relationship realm, the girls are still best friends but have changed in yet another way since August. \n"Emily and I have made different friends," Marshall said. "She has some I don't like, and I'm sure I have some she doesn't like, but we've learned to live with it. I think we're even closer now because of these little things we've had to work out."\nMeanwhile, their suite in Wright is now pasted with photos of their IU friends in addition to the ones of friends from home. The women of the floor pass by throughout the afternoon and evening, poking their heads in the always-open door with greetings and inquiries about when the girls want to go to dinner and whether they need anything from Target. \nAs it did from day one, the room still smells of baby powder and shampoo, and the pink twinkle lights that were put up on move-in day still line the window. But the towels over the closet doors, posters covering the walls, shoes and books on the floor and scattered hair brushes and perfume bottles give the suite a distinctly lived-in, homey feel. \n'Stephanie used to be really clean and neat, and now I think she's inherited my messiness," said Meyer, smiling. "We live in mess. But it's usually mostly books that are on the floor from studying."\nmoving forward\nWhen studying isn't dictating the girls' thoughts (which isn't often), they are mostly looking forward to next year, when they will no longer be the new kids on the block. Meyer and Marshall are moving off campus to live in an apartment. College living will expand beyond the community bathrooms they know, and classes will delve deeper into the chosen majors. With the remainder of this semester, the summer and the next school year, there are concerns and expectations. \nTheir excitements? Living in a furnished apartment. Going to Panama City for spring break. Having their own bathrooms and not showering with "like 200 girls" next to them. Having a car at school. Having the time to take fun classes like scuba-diving and step aerobics. Knowing a lot of people on campus. Not being the new guy. Not getting behind in readings and other school work, even if it means logging some library time on a Friday night. A summer internship for Marshall selling books door-to-door in another state.\nTheir apprehensions? A summer internship for Marshall selling books door-to-door in another state. Being in the library every Friday night to not get behind in classes. Getting to class on time next year with all the traffic. Amounting ungodly debts to IU Parking Enforcement. \nMaybe the freshman story can still be the same for every freshman -- even in February their lives are all very different. Marshall may have summed it up best: \n"Going away to school is a really big part of growing up."\nAnd growing up is different for each student, but all freshman must weather the pitfalls and the breakthroughs that first year. And there's always Panama City or furnished apartments or just not being the new person to look forward to.