College is often remembered as a time of late-night adventures, questionable decisions, questionable cooking skills, and experiences that somehow become funnier with every passing year. Between lectures, exams, dorm-room antics, and the occasional attempt to look like a responsible adult, students can get themselves into some truly unforgettable situations.
And not all of them are exactly the kind you'd proudly share at a family dinner. Yes, ask the people sharing their college confessions on the X page collegefessing, who are opening the door to stories they might have kept quiet about for years.
#21
I lied to my best friend about sleeping with their ex just to keep them from getting back together. 3 years later I still flinch when their name pops up. I ruined something beautiful out of pure jealousy. Forgive me if you ever see this.
- Swarthmore College
- Swarthmore College
3points
Interestingly, many of these experiences remain memorable long after students have packed away their textbooks and moved on to working life. Research discussed by the University of Melbourne Student Union points to the reminiscence bump, a phenomenon in which people tend to recall a disproportionate number of memories from their teens and twenties.
College falls right within this period, when people are experiencing significant changes, forming close relationships, and encountering situations that feel entirely new. Emotionally intense moments, such as first relationships, embarrassing mishaps, personal achievements, heartbreaks, and unexpected adventures, can become particularly memorable because strong emotions help reinforce long-term memories.
#22
my first semester teaching undergrads, i lost a student's midterm exam. (I knew he turned it in, I knew he didn't do well on it, but when it came time to enter the grades online, his exam disappeared). I said nothing and gave him an A. The next time I saw him in class, we locked eyes and I knew he knew I knew he knew.
- IU
- IU
3points
#23
I let my roommate think our $1200 water bill was all from his long showers. I was secretly running a crypto mining rig in my closet 24/7 that spiked our usage. He paid the full extra $400 while I stayed quiet. Still feel like trash about it.
- Oberlin College
- Oberlin College
3points
#24
Freshman year I came home early from a party & found my lit prof (that’s in his mid-40s, married) sitting on our living room couch laughing with my mom after their ‘casual dinner.’ Since she also works at our school. She said it was just grading papers. He left fast. No clue if they did anything inappropriate.
- Syracuse
- Syracuse
3points
Ultimately, college memories often carry meaning beyond the actual events because they are connected to the people students were becoming at the time. Decisions about friendships, relationships, education, and personal interests can influence how someone understands themselves and approaches life years later. Even experiences that seemed insignificant or downright embarrassing at the time can become memorable parts of a person's personal history.
As people grow older, they may forget individual lectures, examination dates, and entire semesters, but the unusual encounters, unexpected adventures, and questionable decisions can remain surprisingly vivid. Sometimes, the most unforgettable part of getting an education has very little to do with what was written on the syllabus.
#25
I had a friend who cheated on EVERY exam, hidden notes, phone apps, even paying others to take tests. He sailed through undergrad like it was nothing. Now? He's in med school at Johns Hopkins. Makes you wonder about the system.
- UPenn
- UPenn
3points
#26
I once drank TWO Four Lokos at a "chill" study group (huge mistake), got so loopy the professor walked in mid-session to check on us, found me sprawled on the table mumbling about my study notes, then I blacked out... woke up couple hours next day on the library floor surrounded by different students that had the room booked. Still crushed that project with an A but never again.
- Ohio State University
- Ohio State University
3points
#27
I lied on my grad school apps about leading that research team, really just fetched coffee and formatted slides while the prof took credit. Got in, got the degree, got the job. Every LinkedIn congrats feels like a punch. I’m still waiting for someone to call me out.
- Harvard University
- Harvard University
3points
College is clearly about much more than lectures, exams, and earning a degree. It's also a time when people make unexpected friends, learn difficult lessons, test their limits, and occasionally do things they would rather their professors never find out about. Some experiences become treasured memories, while others are probably best left buried somewhere in an old dorm room.
Either way, they often make for some pretty entertaining stories years later. What is the most ridiculous, embarrassing, or unbelievable thing you witnessed or did during your college years? Share your own college confessions in the comments!
#28
I still check my ex’s story every night even though we’ve been broken up for 14 months. I tell myself it’s “closure research” but we all know I’m just a pathetic little stalker with feelings that forgot the memo. Anyway, send help or at least a block button that actually works.
– Williams College
– Williams College
3points
#29
I ran into her old playlist on Spotify the other night, still starts with that same Mac DeMarco song we used to blast driving back from the lake at 3 a.m. Hit play and immediately regretted it. Two years gone and I still catch myself thinking “she’d love this” when something funny happens. Saw her new pics last week: new city, new guy’s arm around her, same half-smile. Stomach dropped like the first time she said she was leaving. Typed out “you look happy” like six times. Deleted every one. Archived the chat instead. Turns out missing someone doesn’t have an expiration date. It just gets quieter.
- Vassar College
- Vassar College
3points
#30
Everyone was convinced this quiet Chinese girl in my dorm was a spy. She spoke flawless Mandarin on late-night calls, always had the latest campus gossip before it spread, aced every poly sci exam without studying visibly, and once "jokingly" predicted a prof's surprise policy…change word-for-word. Turns out she was just the daughter of a diplomat, insanely smart, and read every department email thread her dad forwarded her for fun. We were the idiots. She transferred out junior year probably back to homeland.
- Oberlin College
- Oberlin College
3points
#31
One of my ex boyfriends I was living with got a girl pregnant. I told him we needed to go no contact, he then told me I was the only girl he wanted to have his kids and proceeded to get a vasectomy the next day and showed me the incision spot for proof.
- Boise State
- Boise State
3points
#32
One time my friend and I threw a party to celebrate pi day. It was just him and me. Later that year, we threw a party to celebrate constitution day. One of our friends showed up. So that was cool.
College was pretty wild for me.
College was pretty wild for me.
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3points
#33
There are a lot of rock climbers who go to my college so climbing campus buildings and hanging out on roofs is pretty common. Well one night a kid made a plan to step it up a notch and haul a keg to the roof of the performing arts building. It's a real modern looking building with this big pride rock looking thing jutting out from the edge of the roof, a perfect place from which to haul a keg up three stories. Amazingly, they were able to haul the keg up to the roof in no time flat. Well the party gets going and there are like 20 people up on this roof revelling in the success of their keg haul. But the kid who's whole idea this was, decides this is not enough. So he walks out pride rock and hangs a rope from the point. He then ties into this rope with his harness and proceeds to jump off the building, falling in a graceful arching swing. But just as he does so, campus safety comes rolling around the corner. Imagine there surprise to see a student jumping off a three story building. Well the kid notices them, lowers himself to the ground and just takes off. Now the rest of the party is stranded on the roof, drunk, with a keg, and a lot of explaining to do. Or at least they would have been stranded had they not all been climbers. The ropes come out and the harnesses get donned as teams of two start rappelling off the roof of this building as it's being surrounded by the cops. The cops were seriously unprepared for this and as they scrambled to locate the rappel point more ropes were tossed down and more students rappelled and escaped into the night. Finally, the cops made it through the building and on to the roof to find one poor remaining sole, one fairly empty keg, and the rope still dangling from pride rock.
Tl;Dr A bunch of rock climbers at my school hauled a keg to the roof of a building and had a party. One kid set up a rope swing and jumped off the roof alerting campus safety and the cops, but luckily everyone was prepared and rappelled off the roof, away from the cops, and into the night.
Tl;Dr A bunch of rock climbers at my school hauled a keg to the roof of a building and had a party. One kid set up a rope swing and jumped off the roof alerting campus safety and the cops, but luckily everyone was prepared and rappelled off the roof, away from the cops, and into the night.
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3points
#34
I once woke up to my roommates disassembling a stop sign in our living room. Apparently they had come across an overturned stop sign as they walked home from the bar and they thought it'd be cool to hang the street signs up in our living room, so they picked up the pole and walked it two blocks back to our apartment. I'm still not sure how they got it up the stairs unseen but eventually they did manage to take the signs off and we spent the rest of the year with SW 16th Street hanging over our tv.
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3points
#35
There are a lot but this one is fresh in my mind since there was some other reddit thread that reminded me of this..Freshman year I was on an all guys floor with a shared bathroom, bunch of stalls, showers etc. One night a kid comes running into my room and tells me and my roommate that we HAVE to go and see whats in the bathroom so we oblige. There is a fece in one of the toilets that legit was the size of a half full roll of paper towels. It was massive, like almost over the lip of the toilet. I dont know if it wasnt flushed because the kid just didnt want to or because it was impossible. Anyways, as more kids start to see it one kid says he will pick it up out of the toilet and squeeze it if he gets the right amount of money. So people start pitching in 5 and 10 bucks and a little bit of booze and some beer. By this time there were like 100+ people on our floor from all over the freshman dorms because the build up was like an hour. He finally goes into the bathroom and turns the corner so everyone could see and raises it up and squeezes it. It was disgusting but it was awesome haha. He ended up getting in trouble bc the janitor was pissed obviously. The video was on youtube for a while but no longer.
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3points
#36
I was driving with a friend to a party at night. We got kinda lost and found ourselves on some dark country road, tall grass on either side boxing us in. Ahead of us, barely visible in the headlights, was some kind of red melon-sized object in the road. The road was narrow, so I had to drive over it, and whatever it was clunked along the bottom of the car. Thing is, the second we got too close to stop, the object came into focus enough for us to see what looked like human facial features. In the car, we argued for a bit about if we should turn around to investigate. As the driver, I made the call to go back to see. After all, there was no way we saw what we thought we saw... right? Upon driving back, the object was gone, but we saw a glinting light in the darkness which seemed to be moving toward us, it was the reflection of our headlights on a machete being carried by a man approaching our car. I quickly put the car in reverse and we got the hell out of there. My friend and I eventually got to the party, but we just kinda sat outside for awhile, completely dumbfounded. We called the police after the shock wore off, they showed up and we gave them our statements. I never heard anything about it again.
Edit: I was on the fence about telling this story, I don't share it too often because of how extraordinary it sounds, but the handful of upvotes I received feel like a bit of social approval. Thank you!
Edit: I was on the fence about telling this story, I don't share it too often because of how extraordinary it sounds, but the handful of upvotes I received feel like a bit of social approval. Thank you!
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3points
#37
We weren't allowed to enter the dorms drunk, our roommate was. Our brilliant plan to sneak her in was to roll her up in a giant carpet and carry her in. Her feet were hanging out the bottom. Our RA saw us and was either dumbfounded or impressed, I couldn't say.
They just looked at us, looked at the carpet making drunken comments, and looked at the feet, noded and went about their evening.
They never spoke of it to any of us.
2nd incident was my roommate building a full size canoe out of bamboo in our room. I left for the weekend, came back Monday, and there they were. Putting the finishing touches on a bamboo canoe in the middle of our room.
They just looked at us, looked at the carpet making drunken comments, and looked at the feet, noded and went about their evening.
They never spoke of it to any of us.
2nd incident was my roommate building a full size canoe out of bamboo in our room. I left for the weekend, came back Monday, and there they were. Putting the finishing touches on a bamboo canoe in the middle of our room.
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3points
#38
I went to spring break, ended up staying for three weeks, and had to drop my college classes for the semester. I went to spring break with some friends and planned to stay for about a week, just the days we had off of school. Well, I ended up meeting up with some old friends who were going to a different college, they had the following week off of school and asked me to stay to hang out with them. So I did. Then I met some random people who invited me to stay with them the following week and I did. Somewhere in the middle I realized that I was missing a lot of class and probably some tests, so I used the automated phone line to drop all of my classes (this was back in the 90's, so no way to do this on computer).
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3points
#39
Came home from a night out to find a random guy in my roommates bed. I called her to ask who it was, and she said she didn’t know. I guess we forgot to lock the door of our dorm room before we left and some random guy came in the wrong entrance (identical entrances to the building, some for boys and some for girls) and thought it was his room and passed out. We had about 12 cops in our room trying to wake him up and get him out of there.
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3points
#40
This one time, in college, the school closed down and i got stuck with the 80k student debt and no degree.
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3points