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KARLI SCOTT | OPINION COLUMNIST | kmscott@butler.edu

The first few weeks of officially being Butler Bulldogs are done, and the nervous butterflies are starting to subside for us first-years.

That is not to say, however, that we have fully acclimated to this completely new place. Butler University is a new land of mystery and wonder, and it is going to take a bit to get used to college life.

Here are a few things I have found myself wondering during my first weeks on campus:

Am I really going to make new friends?

It is quite sad to realize that we will not be seeing or even talking to our best friends from home every day. We are no longer able to tell our parents about our day at the dinner table or have those warm cuddles from our pets.

We are, however, on a college campus — one the best places to get to know new people.

Chasity Hyde, a first-year accounting major, said she has received helpful advice from older students, one of them being you’re not going to find your best friends the first day on campus. And that’s okay.

Even though Welcome Week is over, there are still tons of different people to get to know, including all the dog friends that abound Butler’s campus.

I actually have to do the book reading?

The days of blowing off homework and hoping the teacher forgets to collect it are over. Us first-years have had to learn pretty quickly that there is an abundance of homework every day to keep us busy.

Many students, such as Tristin Filsinger, a first-year dance major, have come to realize after the first couple of weeks that college classes expect more from you than high school classes.

“You have to think a lot more for yourself,” Filsinger said.

We no longer have teachers who remind you constantly about upcoming homework or catch you up when you are absent. I suppose time management and responsibility will come in handy these next few years.

I can stay out as late as I want?

We now have the freedom to make our own schedules. It is up to us to decide how to fit in going to classes with attending club meetings, hanging out with friends, doing homework and maybe sleeping — if there is time left over.

Looking back on her first year, Dylin Eazell, a sophomore pre-pharmacy major, has learned the importance of time management.

“The biggest thing was learning how to study a lot more effectively, as well as learning to prioritize different aspects of my social life,” Eazell said.

Hopefully, us first-years will be able to learn this lesson sooner rather than later.

I have to share a room and bathroom with strangers?

Thank goodness Butler’s campus is not a complicated maze like other campuses, and it did not take too long to get into the swing of finding the quickest way to get to class.

It might take a little longer, however, for us to adjust to dorm life. Sharing a room and bathroom with people who were complete strangers a few weeks ago is a strange concept. Yet we have all of our comforting pictures from home and posters of things we love decorating our space. As a result, our dorm rooms already feel like home.

We have officially started the next chapter of our lives. I am sure there will be a bit of a learning curve, as is the same with any new experience.

I, for one, am excited to see what the next few years have in store. As cliché as it sounds, there is nothing stopping us now. The sky’s the limit from here.