Firstly, I would like to stomp all over the cliche and misleading ideals and standards that accompany college due to television and movies. College is nothing like that. You don't have automatic friends, you don't know everyone on campus, you don't know where all the parties are and you are not invited your first weekend anyhow. People still can and will act like they are in high school. For example, someone on my floor went around writing "We are lesbians" and "we are gay" on peoples white boards. See-- high school.
There are ups. Sure, your parents aren't around, but your morals are. Just because you enter a place where there is no parental checks doesn't mean that there aren't other checks. Your pride, your morals, self-esteem, the professors, police, campus employees. I don't know about you but I am not going to stay up till four in the morning just because my mom isn't hammering on my door telling me to go to bed. That isn't the way it works. Your patterns don't shift or die just because of where you have elected to be dumped.
It is great to have a constant stream of people to talk to, but that doesn't automatically happen.
Some things I have discovered: People, those that don't usually have to make friends (or have never been in a situation like moving around the world) love it when you plop yourself down next to them and say 'hi, my name is Katie.' People love it when you force your friendliness down their throats, when they are noticed, engaged, numbers exchanged. So my piece of advice from this enlightenment is do just this. Shaking hands is far easier to do then sitting alone in a cafeteria.
I also figured out that college is like high school. There will still be the 'popular people' and the 'sports tables' in the cafeteria, but the good news is you won't care. So what, they can have that table, I have my own.
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