Since my completion of university is quickly approaching (31 more sleeps!) I decided I would spend the next four Friday’s flashing back over my college years!
The last four years have been a whirlwind and, to be honest, I can hardly believe they’re coming to an end. I can remember my first year of college so clearly.
I completed my first year of college at GPRC in Grande Prairie (GP), AB. Grande Prairie is only 205 km (127 miles) away from Fort St. John so I was still nice and close to home and went home quite often on the weekends to visit my family and Eric. In hindsight, I’m really happy my mom convinced me to stay close to home my first couple years of college. I think it made the transition much easier for me. And I really did love my time at GPRC!
My first two years were “general studies” so I did a mix of everything; history, english, political science, drama, biology, logic etc.
That’s GPRC (Grande Prairie Regional College) below. I sure wish I was into running when I lived there because the college had this gorgeous park right beside it and the running path there was so nice!
Side note: Don’t let these pictures fool you, GP had the same COLD, SNOWY climate as FSJ does! These were just taken at a nice time of year 
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My first year of college was an interesting transition, it was my first time living away from home, cooking for myself, buying my own things, not having to get permission for nights out etc. Which was all very exciting for me!
I lived in the dorms my first two years of college, which was a wonderful experience. I honestly think everyone should try living in the dorms when they go to college. It really helped round out the college experience for me, you know?
Here’s what my dorms looked like. They were townhouse-style and there were four of us in each one! Two upstairs and two downstairs. This picture is a little blurry but those are what the townhouses looked like!
Academically, my first year of college was wonderful. I absolutely loved the variety in the classes and just college in general. I went to college straight out of high school so the flexibility of college classes compared to high school ones was great. I also really enjoyed the subject matter and felt like I learned a lot and was properly challenged!
Socially, my first year of college was a blast and one big party. Oh, and I think all the extra drinking/eating taco’s and mac and cheese every night caught up with me because I gained about 20 pounds. About three months into my first year of college I got a job at a local Italian restaurant where I met some amazing people. I waitressed throughout both my years of college.
Here are some pictures from my first year of college. I party-partied during my first two years of college! Oh well, that’s what your first couple years of college are for right?! :):
With my roommate, Melissa:
And at a random dorm party! Haha:
These are me and my roomies outside of our dorm, this was at the end of the first year (miss you girls! XO):
This one was taken my very last night in GP before moving back to FSJ for the summer. I met Jen working at the restaurant and we’re still good friends today, in fact, I get to see her tonight and I’m very excited about it!
When people tell me they miss college my first thought right now is “Are you crazy!!!?”But after just reminiscing my first year of college I think I can see why; my first couple years of college really were so much fun. I had a really schedule flexible and lots of extra money from waitressing and I absolutely LOVED my classes and all the things I was learning.
It’s not until the end of my third year of college and my fourth that I kind of started to hate it and couldn’t wait to get done. But, looking back, I definitely had some of the best times of my life at GPRC and I’m so glad I went to school there!
So, tell me about your first year of college; did you stay close to home like me or go far away? Did you love it or hate it? Did you party-party or study-study? And did you gain the dreaded Freshman 15 (like I did!)?
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow your dorms were awesome!! My first year of college sucked. In high school I was pretty high ranked in class, but they didnt prepare us for anything. I went to a school in the city and with that came scary people. I was dating my ex at the time and we had so many ups and downs that year. I had 5 other roommates and it seems like everyone was fighting. hahah
On the plus side, I had the negative freshman 15….I lost weight. (only to gain it and some the next year) It happens
my first year of college was really great — i had a great group of friends, but alas not without drama.
i actually didn’t gain any weight, i probably lost some weight like 5 - 10 pounds that’s because i didn’t eat anything in teh cafeteria except for cereal! i ate cereal pretty much for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I went away to school, about 4 hrs from home. Too far to go home often, but not so far that it was really difficult when I needed to get home.
I think the most honest answer is that I did a little of both (party/study). My degree is in Electrical Engineering and there was no way to avoid serious studying to get through that first year (calculus, physics, etc)
I would have loved my college years a lot more if I lived in dorms like yours. =) I didnt go far to go to school but did dorm. My freshman year was ok, but not my best year. I met some new friends, got into some minor shennanigans but didnt really hit my stride till my sophomore year. Thats when all the fun started. =)
I spent my first years of college very close to home. In fact, I continued to live with my parents. I think I would do this different now and move to another city, not far away, but a bit more distant… As I combined the party-party and study-study I was always in a hurry and never had any time to eat - successfully evading the Freshman 15…
Have a great weekend…
Good things: I met two of my besties in my first year of college; I won a bunch of art competitions with attached scholarships (yay!); I became a certified pharmacy technician (which paved the way for me to eventually go to pharmacy school); and I tested out of so many classes that I started my second year as a junior.
Bad things: I was so poor that I couldn’t afford to buy food outside of the cafeteria meal plan, so I either went hungry or ate the bean sprouts I grew in my room; my first roommate - whose family didn’t know she was pregnant - ran away during the first week of school to have a late-term abortion in Mexico, creating a huge missing persons drama of which I was the star witness; and I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer!
My first year was a DOOZIE!
For my first year of university I moved about an hour from home and lived off campus in a student house. I didn’t get into the dorms, and part of me wishes I would have gotten to experience that.
I didn’t party a lot in my first two years because I didn’t like my housemates and I worked back home every weekend at a restaurant. My third and final year there was more partying because I LOVED my roommates and we always had a good time going out!
Hope you have a great weekend!
Wow, your “dorms” look amazing! At my university the dorms were barely big enough to fit 1 bed and a desk, never mind 2 … I felt fortunate to be able to live off campus
I lived about an hour and a half away from home - close enough to go home on the weekends but far enough away to pretend I was an actual adult! My first year was lonely … I lived really far away from the school and had a horrible commute so wasn’t able to be involved in a lot of on-campus activities and didn’t have a lot of friends. I moved to within a few blocks of the school for my 2nd year - and my last 3 years were much better!!!
I moved from my hometown to Kamloops to go to university, but since it was only an hour away and I was moving in with my dad, it didn’t really feel like I was moving away from home. I did miss my mom a lot though!
I quite enjoyed it because my mom’s house-rules when I was in highschool were fairly strict and my dad is way more laid back. I can’t say I partied my face off, but I did find myself drinking a little bit more!
I think I probably gained the Freshmen 10 throughout my entire 5 years at TRU. I’m slowly working on getting rid of it!
Annnnd those dorms look amazing! It’s like their REAL houses, not those scary things that loom on McGill here!
I definitely gained the freshman 15, but luckily I was skinny enough that it wasn’t too terrible- until I gained 15 more pounds in Australia and then it wasn’t so good haha. You look so cute in all those pictures though- so much younger than you do now.
I really love this idea of flashing back to each year of college. I may just have to copy it even though I’m not graduating in 4 weeks, but just because it’s fun! I often doing post on Fridays so this would motivate me!
Man my first year of college seems at once like it was ages ago and just yesterday. I made some of my best friends that year and we had a blast together. I was definitely a study-study person. I mean I enjoyed going out, but I didn’t drink until my senior year. True life.
Also, your dorms are wayyyy nicer than mine. I was in a big high rise with an awesome roommate in a teeny tiny box of a room.
Ah, reminiscing on freshman year is always fun. I lived in the dorms (I totally agree…everyone should do it). Best decision and year full of learning…ever! Although, I didn’t come out so great with the whole late night eating thing (and too much drinking) which meant I was one of those Freshman 15 kids, it was an amazing experience. I made some of the greatest friends that year.
I had a weird college experience. I lived at home, attended a community college and then? GOT MARRIED IN THE MIDDLE. It was a different experience, and honestly, I get wicked jealous when I see dorm stuff out in the fall…I really, really wish I’d done the college thing. Ah, well.
I HATED my first year of college. It was my first time away from home and I lived in a tiny, 2-person dorm. I definitely agree about trying out the dorm experience because I know I would have regretted it, had I not tried it. But I did and I hated it. It didn’t help that I was done with my general studies when I started my freshman year and didn’t have classes with anybody in my dorm. I had a horrible roommate and went home every weekend, save 2. I missed home so much and don’t regret moving back to finish college. (I’m at the same university, just a different, smaller campus. Plus, the university I’m at is more of a commuter college than anything. They’ve tried to make it more dorm-style living but it just doesn’t work.)
My freshman year was actually the first year where I LOST WEIGHT. I went to the gym every morning, ate Subway for lunch every day, and Lean Cuisines for dinner. I lost about 10 lbs that year.
I’m with everyone else who says your dorms were awesome! My freshman year dorm was one room and it was smaller than my bedroom now for 2 people. The whole floor shared a community bath. It was a blast though! I was adventurous and moved from Texas to Pennsylvania for my freshman year. Since I didn’t know anyone there and couldn’t go home except between semesters and maybe Thanksgiving and spring break, I was forced to make friends. I actually transferred to a Texas school halfway through my second year but I made a lot of friends from PA that I still keep in contact with. I wasn’t much of a partier but I lived on a co-ed floor where we did lots of random hall dance parties for no reason (once we filled someone’s room with balloons a la “Patch Adams” and once we created a bazillion “snowflakes” with hole punches so someone could have “snow” on their birthday…all sober…we were just nuts). We also did a lot of hiking and outdoor activities. Somehow I still gained the Freshman 15…I think it was the ice cream parties that followed the hikes
I had a lot of fun. But I also learned I wanted to be closer to family.
I’m amazed that those are dorms! I only wish I could have had dorms that nice in college
I really miss university! I spent 8 years at the same university (multiple degrees) and it always felt like home. Plus, I always loved school!
My first year of college i moved away! I had a blast partying but then realized it wasnt worth all the money. I then changed majors and moved back home. It was a great year though and ill never forget it. I did however, spend about every weekend up at my boyfriends where he went to school and that was pretty amazing too!
You looked so different with long hair!
I loved the freedom of uni, straight after high school. Going to classes where people actually chose and wanted to be there.
What nice dorms you had! Originally I intended to live in the university provided apartments, and applied for a place. But I ended up staying in the suburbs, and living with T. The apartments were tiny and expensive, although I wonder if my experience would have been in a way better, living with other students and possibly making more friends. Then again, my horrible experiences flatting have convinced me it was probably a wise move - I don’t think it would have been easy to move out of the campus accommodation even if things didn’t work out.
I guess a combination of my shyness and living in the ‘burbs meant I didn’t really live the partying life. Most people made fast friends right away and stayed friends for the whole three years, but I didn’t really click with anyone (the majority were stereotypical Communications girls).
i went away to college…but by away i was only and hour and a half away.. but still i was AWAY.. not at any of the colleges that were 20 minutes away from my parents.. i did not gain weight freshma year.,i lost weight.. i gained weight after i transferred schools and lived closer to home and hubby.. i need to go backt o my freshman year.. i loved it.. i partied hard.. lots of fun
First off - it’s amazing to see the physical changes you have gone through since your first day of college. You have always been beautiful, but I am so proud of you for the changes you’ve made! I bet you never thought you’d be running half marathons & a full marathon!
Freshman year was a blast for me. I agree - I think living in the dorms is so important. Although yours look alot nicer than ours were! Ours were very tiny and we all pretty much slept in lofted beds. I did not get along w/ my roommate, but as uncomfortable as that was, it was a good experience. Academically, I started off as a Clinical Lab Science major. I didn’t take any math classes. I found myself missing math so much - I was tutoring anyone and everyone that wanted help on my dorm floor. I missed it so much, I knew I needed to change majors and I never looked back after that!
Socially, it was a huge difference. I went from never drinking to dabbling in drinking. i wouldn’t say I was a hardcore partier but I had my share of good times!
Ahh, to be a freshman again. Actually, i wouldn’t want to go back and do it all over again. I did it right the first time around and have many wonderful memories to reflect upon!
Lookign forward to these posts!
I went to university right out of high school as well. I lived at home with my family and the university was only an 8 minute drive away. I partied on the weekends … but never before a class, and school always came first. I didn’t gain any weight … but then again, I was living at home, so not a lot changed in my life.
I absolutely hated it and contemplated transferring. I learned at my college that the mean girls don’t die when you leave high school. No, no, they follow you right to college. I was treated pretty horribly. But all is good now =)
Best,
Hannah Katy
I remember realizing for the first time that I didn’t have to go home to my dorm that night, and nobody would care. Heck, my roommates probably wouldn’t even ask where I was. After living in a house with a curfew of “before dark” my entire life, the realization was both liberating and frightening.
Also, seeing you as a party girl is super bizarre… I wouldn’t believe you if it weren’t for the photos!
I lived with my parents (and still live in their house even though they’re not here) and can’t wait to one day live on my own!
Academically, first year was BRUTAL. I went from high school straight to law school. I wouldn’t do it again.
I actually lost some weight the first year, it’s in my 3rd year that I gained the freshman 15 (plus a few extra Lol).
oh, i love your long curly hair! so pretty! i like it short too, but how different you looked. If anyone says they didn’t gain the freshman 15 they are LYING! =) I think it happened to all of us whether we admitted it or not.
I was about two hours away from home which worked out pretty well for me. Just far enough away to be without my family but close enough that I could reach them if I needed anything.
Can’t believe you’re almost done! How exciting!!!!