As high schoolers, we glorify college. It becomes a symbol for our newfound autonomy after four years of depending on our parents for rides home or groceries. Going into my junior year, I decided to taste the college life. I enrolled in an economics class at Georgetown University for 5 weeks, hoping to experience the independence of an undergrad student. My mom would not be needed for me to complete any tasks or berate me for not cleaning my room. I would be free. However, the college life without any sense of responsibility can lead to chaos. There is much to keep up with when no one keeps track of you, and with this new knowledge, I have compiled 7 facts about college.

For the first time in 16 years, I had to cook my own meals if I wanted to spend fewer than 10 dollars on a barely satiating dish. My cooking stage only lasted a week until the roaches and flies reached the communal kitchen. Plates began to stack over each other as a pungent odor intensified with each meal. Most of my floormates cleaned the kitchen during the first week because there was always a second person present nearby who could blame whoever forgot to wash the dishes. After we all gained a relatively solid schedule of everyone’s day, the lazy discovered the dorms were vacant at certain hours. Filth could now accumulate without the cook experiencing any consequences or guilt. Therefore, the plates piled on until flies made their home in the unwashed dishes. One does learn a lot about a person’s personality when discussing food, and in the kitchen everything came to light, such as the identity of thieves. The kitchen is a battlefield, especially when Ben & Jerry’s ice cream or rice cookers are stolen.

Construction might not be a nuisance when you attend a university, but it will be an incessant bother if you plan on becoming a Georgetown bulldog. Georgetown is undergoing a renovation until 2017 , so all applicants should consider this before adding Georgetown to their college list. The persistent blocking of walkways and building entrances will force you to take the scenic route to all of your classes, and not only will the noise of construction workers be a peeve, but their entry into the college bathrooms will incentivize you to find the farthest restroom from construction sites.

College classes usually require a midterm, a final and a project which allows the procrastinator to dedicate his or her leisure to advocating, sleeping or socializing. Gauging from my days at Georgetown, free time tends to be a mix of the three with a few exceptions. Due to recent controversies surrounding planned parenthood, pro choice protests reverberated their chant on campus as students joined in to help the cause. On the other hand, there were people on my floor who never left their rooms. They were like legends, discussed and hyperbolized at times but never seen to attest the truth. Some of my friends told stories of roommates who decided to skip showers for a week. As I said, everyone decides to dedicate time to different activities in college, showering may not be one of them.

This blurb won’t be written from experience because alcohol is an activity for adults 21 and older, but I found it to be a topic worth discussing due to the numerous red solo cups dispersed around campus. The fact that college students consume alcohol becomes incontestable after a tour of the university grounds. Bottles of Jack Daniel’s, Absolut Vodka and other alcoholic beverages are in almost every recycling bin near the dorms and public bathroom stalls have tips about responsible alcohol consumption taped to their doors.

The regular old bus with its sexagenarian drivers or the trek to tri rail on rainy days will be part of the past. Once in college there will be no free transportation. Fortunately, everything is within the fringes of campus if you are okay with cafeteria food that stains your plate or a few cafes. Any other cuisine will require a trip to the city or your college town. Uber will become your best friend if you are okay with a hefty price tag. A bike will most likely suit college students who are either on a limited budget or supporting eco friendly transportation.

You know you are in a college laundry room when you come across a thong on the cement floor. The underwear of unknown individuals is solely one of the many articles of clothing one might encounter. Sometimes you will find dirty men’s underwear, and dirty as in feces stained dirty. At first, I refused to use the same laundry machine as the owners of those objects but washing one’s clothes is inescapable. One must pray for the cleansing power of febreeze and tide, and throw the dirty clothes in the washing machine.

The photo says it all. When mom isn’t around, roaches will pillage the crumbs you leave on the floor and shelter themselves in your soiled clothes.