When high school ends many of us will trek off to the land of college. But, what can we expect to experience in this new world we become immersed in.  I spoke with two UMass Amherst freshmen who graduated from Pentucket Regional High School last year.  What has their experience been like so far and what can we expect of our futures?

Learned from interviews is that it’s a better experience than high school for the most part.  They feel more excited for classes as they have a stronger say in what classes they are able to take.  And even though there’s more homework, there is also more time to do homework.  No longer does each weekday begin at 7:30, now they’re able to take classes that they’ll actually be awake for instead of drearily trying to keep themselves awake through early morning classes.

Outside of academics, there is a social aspect.  There’s great food and they love living within walking distance of all their friends on campus, it makes it easier to hang and have someone to talk to.  As well as what they stressed was the most important point, “Everyone is so attractive in college and it’s so annoying.”

Though, there are some downsides. They really miss the connection with teachers. “You really have to go out of your way if you talk to them,” said Katya.  They miss being able to just say hello and have a conversation before class like they did in high school.

Also, it’s harder to make friends; a lot of people already know each other so finding a place to fit in can be difficult.  “Unless you go out and try to make friends, it’s not going to happen,” said Katya.

Not only that but Katya also said college really “[hecks] up your sleep schedule, you’ll pretty much become nocturnal.  Late nights of studying will become normal and waking up in the afternoon becomes second nature.

But most importantly there are two things that college is desperately lacking that they miss most of all.  “There are no cats in college! (but sometimes there’s puppies) Also there are no Slacks in college either,” they agreed that these two things would greatly improve colleges everywhere.