School has started back up again and the freshmen have moved into the dorms on campus. For many freshmen, this is a big step in their lives as well as a whole new experience.

Many have never had a roommate before, most have never lived without their parents and now must be responsible for tasks on their own now. Many have gone from eating home cooked meals to eating in the cafeteria or the bistro many times a day.

I went around campus and asked several freshman students how they felt about settling into campus and adjusting to campus life.

On the topic of being on their own, Danny Herlihy said, “Compared to living at home – when your parents tell you what to do such as when to get up, when to eat, when to be home – it’s different because at college it’s your own life. It’s up to you to decide when to wake up or eat or come home at night, not your parents.”

At the other end of the spectrum, Jordan Themer said, “It’s harder because now you have to do everything on your own.”

From these two comments you can see that some may feel that being on their own is easy as well as a new-found freedom, others may see it as something they need to adjust to.

Another major thing freshmen have to deal with when living on their own is having a roommate. There are many freshmen who haven’t had a roommate at home and now have to adjust to living in a room with someone else. On this topic Brooke Brasil said, “It’s weird knowing that you have to share a room with another person.”

Eli Gonzalez also said this on the topic of roommates, “At first it was weird because I wasn’t aware of who I was going to get so I wasn’t sure what the person would be like. They could’ve been a number of things, and I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d get along with them.”

Adjusting is another experience that freshmen have to deal with when moving to campus. Students have gone from being with their parents in homes that they spent a lot of time growing up in and are now living in new places.

When asked how he felt about adjusting to campus life Michael Covelli said, “I love it. It’s a lot better than living at home, and I’m not feeling homesick.”

Other freshmen have also said that they have found adjusting to campus life easy. I asked Vaida Naris how she felt about adjusting to campus life and she said, “At first I thought it would be really hard but as I started coming to Millikin, everyone was very welcoming, and I just felt that I had found my second home.”

With the school year well underway – and the freshman settling into their new life – things are looking good for Millikin students.