Freshman 15: The 4 People You Meet in College

Freshman 15: The 4 People You Meet in College

The Freshman Fifteen is a series by college freshman Elizabeth on the various things she’s learned throughout the year. Stay tuned for more posts!

Your college years are a great time to explore new avenues and meet tons of new people you’d never have known otherwise. And while you will meet hundreds, if not thousands, of unique individuals over your four (or five, six, seven…) years, there are five people you are nearly guaranteed to meet on any college campus. Some should be avoided, others befriended, but you will inevitably encounter them all.

1. The Overachiever

This person will be easy to spot; they will be a member of nearly every club you run across, plus will most likely hold positions on student government associations or the like. They will do all this while maintaining a 4.0 GPA and taking 18 credit hours a semester. You will never see them with their guard down, and you will come to assume that they run on caffeine, as they never seem to sleep.

However, they are probably the ones that will go slightly insane around exam week, or towards the end of the semester. The stress will have been building on them the entire time, and they’re about to crack. While it’s not a bad idea to befriend this person (pro: they will always know what’s happening on your campus), be careful that they don’t sucker you into volunteering for all of their events, or taking over some of their workload, because before you know it, you will be this person.

2. The Partier

This person will be found hanging around the frat houses, clubs, and notorious party spots on campus. They will use words like “sick” and “rad” unironically, and always seem to smell slightly like last night’s escapades. They usually have catch phrases something like “C’s get degrees!” and you can safely bet you won’t be seeing them in a morning class. They’re always happy to tell you what is going on tonight – but it may not be wise to get caught up in weeknight shenanigans with such a grueling class schedule.

*Disclaimer: this is not to say that anyone who goes to parties will end up like this, or is in some way a bad student. Obviously, this is not the case, as nearly every college student goes to some sort of party some time in their life. I’m referring to the people who go out every single night, and never seem to do much else but party. You all know who I’m talking about.

3. The Difficult Professor

This professor lurks in a general education class which you deem to be completely easy and thus, a waste of your time. You will keep this attitude up until you turn in your first paper, something that you completely breezed through because, honestly, how hard is it? Then you get your grade back and instantly regret writing the paper 10 minutes before it was due. You might feel a bit outraged, because you honestly thought it was an alright paper. You will then throw yourself into acing this class and gaining the respect of this professor, because while they are an insanely tough grader, they are super cool, wise, and make you want to impress them. These are all good things. You will learn a lot in these type of classes, most likely about things other than the subject of the class.

4. The Best Friend

This person is difficult to profile, as they are different for each person who meets them. This is the person you meet at some point in you college career. It could be the first week, or your third year. You inexplicably hit it off with them, and somehow know that this is a person you want in your life more often. You go from acquaintances, to maybe study buddies, and before you know it, you’re hanging out with them in clubs, or sitting in your apartment or dorm room at 3 am watching cheesy movies and eating Doritos. You text them incessantly and before you even realize what’s happening… they’re your best friend.