Transitioning from High School to College Relationships

Everyone always tells you growing up how different college is from high school, but I have come to know that no matter how many times this idea is repeated to you, nothing can really prepare you for the change that comes. You have a new bed, sometimes a new city, your parents aren’t down the hall anymore, and relationships are completely different. High school friends came and went, boys came and went, but nothing could have prepared me for the new attitudes everyone had towards their personal connections in college.

As a first semester freshman, I’ve been very pleasantly surprised about how willing people are to make friends. My advice for someone soon to be in the shoes that I wore this August, would be to remember that that every other person on your hall is lonely, scared, and wants to make bonds just as much as you do. I dealt with my fair share of bitchy girls throughout my adolescence before arriving to UMD and I decided that I would learn from my mistakes, come to school with a positive attitude, and make friends with anyone I could. This has benefitted me so much and I have met so many amazing people; you will limit yourself if you are not open to talking to anyone and everyone. Previously I only had friends who were carbon copies of me, and coming to Maryland has made me realize how entirely boring that is.

Now we all know that friends aren’t the only relationships teenagers are concerned with making. I had a couple boyfriends in high school, one stuck around for a long time (unfortunately) but the way the male collegiate population acts is definitely not something that I was prepared for either. In high school if I kissed a boy I expected him to want to date me the next week, here that is not how it works.

I learned that things are much more casual in college, something I kind of knew but I didn’t know how it would make me feel. It took me a couple months to feel okay about this, but everyone is different and will handle transitions at his or her own pace. Not to say there aren’t serious relationships in college, some of my friends are already in them, but romance can also be extremely casual as you get older and as long as both parties are okay with that, there’s nothing wrong with it. As I said before, everything has changed and you must remember to take the transition in stride instead of being scared of it. As long as you remember to respect yourself, every other person you encounter, and make sure they respect you, these new styles of relationships will be fun and exciting- they do say that these are the best years of your life.