Freshman year bingo: 25 things everyone does first semester

Nobody hands you a rulebook for your first semester of college. But somehow, everyone ends up doing the exact same things. Walk into the wrong building. Buy a textbook you never open. Say "we should hang out sometime" to forty people.

So we turned it into a game. Read the list, count how many you've done, and check your result at the bottom. The center square is free, because you showed up, and honestly that's the hardest part.

The bingo card

1. Got lost on the first day and pretended you meant to walk into that building.
2. Bought the "required" textbook and never opened it.
3. Said "we should totally hang out" to someone you never saw again.
4. Ate cereal for dinner and called it a balanced meal.
5. Joined four clubs at the activities fair. Attended one meeting. Total.
6. Called home just to ask how to do laundry.
7. Turned a load of whites pink. Or grey. Or a color that has no name.
8. Took a nap so long you woke up unsure what day it was.
9. Emailed a professor and rewrote the first line nine times.
10. Discovered the dining hall has one good dish and ordered it every day for a month.
11. Stayed up until 3 AM talking to someone you met that week.
12. Got a free t-shirt you will somehow still own in ten years.
13. FREE SQUARE: You showed up.
14. Sat in the same seat every lecture and felt personally attacked when someone took it.
15. Started an assignment the night before it was due, as a lifestyle.
16. Spent too much money on late-night food delivery in one week.
17. Waved back at someone who was waving at the person behind you.
18. Learned your roommate's entire sleep schedule by accident.
19. Set five alarms and slept through all five.
20. Made a "study group" that turned into a snack group within ten minutes.
21. Had a small identity crisis about your major. Possibly a medium one.
22. Got sick in the first month because everyone shares every germ.
23. Walked to class in the rain without an umbrella, out of pure stubbornness.
24. Took the Rice Purity Test during orientation week and immediately regretted it.
25. Called your hometown friends and said "college is so different" at least once.

How did you do?

0 to 5 squares: The Fresh Start

Either you're very organized or the semester just started. Possibly both. Give it a few weeks. The laundry incident is coming for you.

6 to 12 squares: The Fast Learner

You've had the classic experiences without too much damage. A few lost walks, a few missed alarms, a few cereal dinners. Perfectly normal. You're doing great.

13 to 19 squares: The Full Experience

You've lived freshman year to its absolute fullest. Your clubs list is long, your sleep schedule is fictional and your laundry has a story. This is what college movies are trying to capture.

20 to 25 squares: The Legend

Blackout bingo. Every square. You are the freshman experience. Someone should study you. Please also drink some water and sleep for nine hours.

A tiny bit of real advice

Almost every square on this card is a sign that you're figuring things out, and that's exactly what first semester is for. Getting lost, mixing up a deadline or eating cereal for dinner doesn't mean you're bad at college. It means you're new at it.

A few things that genuinely help: learn where your campus health center is before you need it, go to at least one professor's office hours early in the term (it gets much less scary after the first time), and keep a basic calendar for deadlines. Future you will be grateful.

Want to keep playing? Our lecture hall archetype quiz will tell you which classroom character you are, and if square 18 hit a little too close to home, try the roommate compatibility quiz. And if you checked square 24, well, you know what to do. Take it again and see how much one semester changed you.