As college grows closer and closer, many seniors are wondering what it will be like to be on their own For students, supporting themselves is usually something that is completely new and hard to grasp. Some students going away might have the impression that they will not have the time or the opportunities to participate in things they used to love to do. This can be true, but for the most part, students will be able to maintain the same interests they had when they were in high school.

“College has given me more freedom to explore my interests than high school ever did,”  Alumni Jordan Stoddard said. “The only thing that has changed is I’m a lot more comfortable with my hobbies and with people. Because college is a welcoming environment and you are constantly encouraged to explore what you like, you will always find other people who have similar interests.”

There are a myriad of things that students can do with their free time in college. Most schools offer a lot of different programs and clubs, a lot of which are actually very similar to those offered in high school. If they live close enough, students might even want to go home on the weekends to see old friends and family.

“I play the violin and I’m in three orchestras on campus,” Stoddard said. “So I have that [orchestra- related activities] three nights a week and practice every day.”

Colleges can provide a widespread variety of extracurricular hobbies to pick up, ranging anywhere from football to gaming competitions and chess teams.

“I like to play video games, watch tv and sleep in my free time. I compete in video game competitions bi-weekly,” alumni Michael Hopkins said. “My hobbies have pretty much stayed the same since high school, and I go home then commute 30 minutes daily to school anyways. I started [participating in gaming competitions] at the end of last semester. I saw a flyer in Alumni hall on the poster board that mentioned an ‘esports club’,” Hopkins said.