A Review of ‘Freshman Year of Life’ by MindSumo Community
Freshman Year of Life is a collection of essays curated by the MindSumo Community on life after college. The essay writers explore themes such as money, work, home, family, friendship, love and many more in discussing the truth about life post-college graduation. The book is organised in three chapters: Work and Money, Home and Belonging, Love and Relationships.
I like how the book begins with discussing work and money because that’s usually the first thing a college graduate would be consumed with, I know I definitely was. It was interesting to note that some of the essay were written by Americans who’ve lived through challenging political climates such as the 2008 financial crisis and 9/11; I can only imagine the hopelessness and bleak perspective on life you’d have to go through that and figure out how to navigate life after college. The essay I connected with the most from this chapter is titled ‘Wait for It’ by Chloe Angyal. I related to this essay so much because I, like her, struggle with being patient and waiting to hit milestones in my career. It wasn’t that I had a problem with working hard for my career, I really didn’t, if anything I enjoyed hustling and found it to be rewarding. It’s just that as I'm going through the process of building my career I perceived the mundane things such as job-seeking, interviews, admin tasks, basically the whole period of waiting for my milestone, as seemingly meaningless because of how unfulfilling it made me feel. But I was wrong. Waiting is a part, and perhaps even a crucial part, in the hustle and grind. It’s not doing nothing with your time, it’s allowing yourself to have trust with the universe and taking a leap of faith. Acknowledge it. Accept it. Appreciate it. Move onward and upwards.
I connected with the second chapter for a number of reasons; firstly I myself am raised third-cultured and have been moving from place to place from a young age to currently as a young-adult, secondly I have a mostly introverted personality so I’m very familiar with the feeling of disconnection with surrounding and not knowing where I belong. Home was never a physical place or destination for me, it was a journey which sounds odd to say because you’d expect home to be still and stable. What I mean is that it’s more of a feeling, and I feel home when I’m living for life; when I’m doing the things the bring me purpose and have meaning to me. The narrators of this chapter talk about adventure, self-discovery, travel, which sounds exciting but then they also talk about some of the pain and sorrow that can come along the way. This chapter explores so many levels and I enjoyed reading all the essays!
I thought that the last chapter would be mostly about romantic love but I was delightfully surprised that the curated essays discussed love beyond romantic. I like how some of the narrators give practical advice to readers. Each of the essays reach towards a personal and intimate space, and I thoroughly enjoyed that! These essays really do tell the truth about the freshman year of life, whether it’s discovering a hidden meaning or bring nuances in perceiving life after college. Your freshman year of life will be tough and you probably don’t need to be told this, I know I certainly didn’t, but it’s your experience and your journey so make it count. Good luck!
This book was gifted to me by my older sister as a graduation present last year. It was perfect because when I read it I instantly clicked with everything the essays spoke about. This is a great gift for anyone who’s graduating college or reaching a milestone in their young-adult journey, and it’s also a lovely commuting companion! You can read this book however you want, perhaps chronologically, or by picking the essays to read at random, or finding one’s that suite your interests and/or current situation and read them as you go along. The final verdict: 10/10! A very much needed read for all freshgrads. To all my fellow 2019 graduates: here’s to the rest our freshman year of life, cheers!
Last edited: February 28th 2020











