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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

“Adulting,” or more appropriate terms, paying bills and attending college is frightening. As soon as we graduate high school, we are then expected to just know how to “adult.” Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Domestication was not always a priority to me, leaving me as a very lost freshman. The concept of doing laundry was foreign, and not freeloading off of my parents and actually having to pay this thing called ‘rent’ was extremely scary. Credit? That’s a thing? Are we are supposed to have that?

To survive your first year of college, you need to master three easy techniques: How to successfully remember that you have clothes in the dryer, how to cook Ramen Noodles in the microwave and how to stay motivated to attend class even when season 11 of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ was uploaded to Netflix.

Doing laundry is an unfortunate necessity in college and it doesn’t come with an instruction manual. There’s no step-by-step procedural method for how to wash a dress vs. how to wash a pair of jeans. You sort of, just have to figure it out or call your mom and admit you should have listened to her when she was showing you instead of tweeting. The first few times I did laundry, it turned into a game of roulette where I pressed random buttons and hoped for the best. My dress shrunk and apparently a pair of red socks mixed with white clothes was not a smart idea.

Two tips to know that will help you survive the chore of laundry: (1) Wash everything in cold. There is no need to hope for the best, after all, laundry roulette is a tough gamble. (2) Actually remember 40 minutes later that you, in fact, have clothes in the dryer. Moldy clothes are disgusting, but if you absolutely need those pair of jeans, just throw them back in the dryer for 15 minutes with 3 dryer sheets. Yeah! Secrets!

Ramen Noodles will simply save you from having to interpret the directions of a recipe. They are cheap, easy to make and will get you through a semester of college. However, after about a semester, you may have to upgrade to heat-up easy mac, which is a whole dollar more. I know, so extra.

Go to class! Season whatever of the show you are emotionally invested in, is not going anywhere. Missing a class can cause you half a letter grade if your professor gives pop quizzes worth 5 points. I learned this the hard way.

We are all adults trying to figure it out together.

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