Yeah, same here! My first batch was god-awful. I didn't know how to cold crash, and I didn't have a fridge in that dorm, even if I wanted to. So I drank room temperature cider with all the yeaties in it with my buddies. Good times, but that shit was gross.
I siphoned up all the yeast on my first batch of cider, so that's my problem. I figured it out by the time I did the mead, though! And I have two more gallons of cider going now. Some mistakes I only want to make once :)