As a current IU sophomore, it is safe to say my freshman experience had some rough bumps here and there. And had my parents known what I was in for, I think that coordinating my trips back home and contacting them would have been vastly easier.
Choosing the right dining plan
With three different meal options, finding the best choice is important in saving money while also keeping my stomach full. IU’s three options include the 7-day classic, the 7-day expanded, and the 7-day max.
The jargon associated with meal plans made my decision very confusing. My family chose the 7-day expanded plan as a mere guess, questioning how valuable combo meals and dining dollars were.
In the first few weeks, I mainly ate at the all-you-care-to-eat locations. However, after finding my favorite dining locations such as the Lantern in the Indiana Memorial Union and Poke Bowl inside Read Residence Hall, dining halls became useless to me. My plan’s four combo meals and $250 of dining dollars a semester mostly covered my hunger needs.
Dining dollars is the amount of money in your dining plan which acts like a debit card at all campus locations. A combo meal, however, is limited to specific campus locations, allowing you to choose from a set menu of meals.
Move-in and move-out days
I wish my parents knew how stressful move-in and move-out days were. Living in Forest Quadrangle, the first thing residents became accustomed to was having only one operable elevator and another completely broken, which meant everyone had to transport their dorm furniture and supplies up in one tiny elevator.
It was so bad that my family had to carry heavy storage containers all the way up six flights of stairs. I couldn’t imagine how people living on the 11th floor felt.
Finding parking and carrying carts became impossible, aggravated by the fact that nobody knew what they were doing. This fateful day started the semester off stressfully, further amplified by my parents’ angry commentary.
The real issue, when it came time to move out, was the amount of stuff I accumulated over the year. While driving back home the car was filled to the brim, much to my parents’ chagrin.
Learning the break schedules
I only returned home for a few breaks throughout the year, and it was my job to figure out when those times were through the academic calendar. However, my class schedule allowed for a level of flexibility for my departure date, since I could sometimes leave earlier than the first official day of break if I finished my in-person exams
Finding your departure date is really dependent on what your class schedule is like, instead of the main IU calendar. Constantly explaining this to my parents became maddening since I was often scolded for letting them know too late when I was able to come back.
I recommend making a to-do list for finals week or any week leading to break, detailing all of your exams and assignments. This way you can see when your latest assignment or exam is, which in turn lets you know what day you can leave.
How busy I was
I became really involved in a mixture of clubs, my jobs and video editing projects within my first year, way more than I had previously in my small high school which had very little options within the field of film. Not only was I juggling a job at a coffee shop and writing for the IDS, but I was also volunteering as an usher at the IU Auditorium and at several animal rescues.
This left little time for me to connect with my parents and call them every day. Many times, I had to hang up early so that I could finish the schoolwork I needed to do. I wish I could have told my parents initially to prepare for the real-life distance but also the distance in availability.
I would give one piece of advice to the parents of incoming freshmen. This new journey entails a lot for you and your child, and giving support to them in this often-stressful life change is extremely important.
Prepare for the frightening move-in and move-out, and be aware that you might not see each other as much as you would like.
This story was originally published in the Indiana Daily Student's 2026 Parent Guide.
