Thank you all!

Good morning everyone! I want to thank the ones who are sending in the requests! I love it!! Today's topics are going to cover adjusting to college, the work load, the dining/dining plan, and how to deal with being away from home. Some of these will overlap, but you will get the main idea.

Adjusting to college:
   I fell right into the college scene really easily. I didn't have to make too many adjustments because I lived with only my mom and both of our schedules were crazy so it was like I was already living at college. You and your roommate will have different schedules and sometimes you will barely see them. Others you will see all the time. It's all up to you on how well you adjust: either you can embrace it or you can let it break you. You don't have your parents around reminding you to do your school work or make dinner or do your laundry. You're growing up and it's time to take responsibility. The biggest thing is freedom. There is A LOT of freedom here. You have the choice to eat as unhealthily as you want, decide what to watch on TV, stay out late, and if you want to go to class or not. Most people have a hard time adjusting to having all of that responsibility come at them at once. I had a friend who was a freshman in the fall who had a rough time because she didn't know how to schedule out her life. Her parents did everything for her and didn't know how handle it when they weren't there (especially her budget. What to buy and what not to buy. Some of you will become expert couponers and always know where the deals are.) It was also hard for her because she lived in a large family and traditions weren't the same.
   Another rough thing to get accustomed to is living in small, confined spaces with another stranger. You can read a previous post on roommates, but this is another thing you have to really adjust to.
   Being away from family for long periods of time might be hard for some people. I am 11-14 hours away from home, so obviously I don't go home every weekend. Or you might be like my housemate who lives and Atlanta and never wants to go home. Skype, Facebook, and facetime are all good inventions to invest in if you are far from home. If you are the first child in your family, you should probably expect a lot of phone calls from home. This was hard for me because my mom is my best friend and it's rough not going to surprise her for lunch or just lay on her bed at night chatting about everything.
   Not being as close to your best friend as you like. If you and your best friend are attending schools, it might be rough to adjust to that. For this matter, any friend of yours. You're not 15 minutes away from them and can't just hop in the car to go spend the night with them. It takes a lot of planning and a lot of work on both sides to keep up long distance friendships. That can be a hard thing to get used to as well.
   Adjusting to doing a lot of things by yourself.  Right now I can count 8 people around me who are doing things by themselves. Like I stated before- people have different schedules. It's not like high school where everyone gets out of class at the same time and you can walk to class together. Classes are not in the same building and everyone has different schedules. You can maybe have lunch with friends, but you will probably just meet up with them at the end of the day. You will also have to call the university or go to the doctors office by yourself or even go to the grocery store by yourself. A lot of people haven't done that before. You have to be confident and make sure you can take care of yourself.
 
The work load:
The work load really depends on the class. My math class took up homework, but my other classes could care less about homework. Some classes might have homework to help you for the test, but your teacher will never check it. Study guides aren't mandatory to fill out and turn in- it's up to you if you want to do it. The work load also depends on how much you want to succeed or amount of work you want to put into a class. I'm in history two right now and I know I have to read the book every night, make note cards and go to study sessions. I invest a lot of time into this class. My music appreciation class on the other hand, I just show up, take a few notes and I'm good to go for the test. The work load is pretty much as heavy or as light as you want to make it: it just all depends on what you want your grade to be.

The dining plan:
Auburn has a greaaaat variety of food. They have multiple food courts and food trucks that you can go to. There are also little places called "outtakes" that is like the inside of a gas station. It has your basics and can buy personal things there,too. If you live off campus then your dining plan will be $300. That sounds like a lot, but it will go fast. Everything is more expensive on campus. If I were you then I would make a schedule on when you know you will eat on campus that way you can make it last. During the spring semester I would eat lunch on campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I would eat dinner on campus only on Wednesdays. All the other days I would eat breakfast/dinner at home. People often bring their lunches so that's not weird to do. On campus students will have $900 to spend. Like I said above...it's easy to spend. I would bring a package of powerades (or any drink you want) and just some snack foods for the dorm. Maybe bread and peanut butter if you want to eat something light. You won't have room for a whole pantry of stuff and the only source of heat you will have is a microwave. Plus your fridge is small and you won't be able to put much in there either.
***STARBUCKS LOVERS PLEASE READ**** DO NOT WASTE ALL YOUR MONEY ON STARBUCKS. I made the mistake of doing this. It's a lot more expensive on campus. If you just want coffee, then go to ABP or the little place in Haley. They sell coffee for cheap and it's good. Spend your campus money on food. All of your campus money will be on a tiger card that you get at camp war eagle. Make sure you keep up with your card.
Once you run out of money you have two options: either your parents can add more or you pay for your food yourself. They accept most debit/credit cards and they accept cash. So make sure you spend your money wisely!!

I hope this helps you out a little!! If you have any questions or requests please feel free to ask below, comment on Facebook, or send me a message on Facebook! Hope you're getting excited!

-Dayna