Dear First Year Students,

I’m sure in the past few months you’ve got a lot of advice from a lot of different people. I’m sure some of the stuff that’s in this you’ve heard multiple times but that just means it’s extremely important and you need to follow it. The first few weeks are either the best or worst depending on how well you do with this new found freedom. Looking back on my first year, I did some things right and other things all wrong. From my wise senior knowledge I'm sharing this with you.

1. Befriend your hall mates and I’m not talking just the ones next to you. Say hi and be friendly to everyone in your dorm whether they’re on your floor or not. There’s going to be a time when you’re in a class with them or there’s a fire drill and you’ll be thankful you said hi all those times.

2. Call home, whether it’s to your mom, dad, aunt, uncle, sibling, or significant other. Whomever it is, call them at least once a week to say hi because they miss you and you can remind them to send you a care package.

3. Join something- literally anything., whether it’s a club or sport just do it. You’ll be thankful you did. It’s a good way to get out of your room and meet new people.

4. Go out and have fun. I’m going to say this again. - go out and have fun. Take a weekend off from your head in the books and have a movie night or go to an off campus party before it gets busted. These are the nights you’ll be looking back on later in life.

5. Go on adventures. It's easy to do that at CSC with all kinds of fun hiking trails. If you're not into hiking go shopping or just simple for a walk. Get out of your dorm and off campus for a bit.

6. It's okay to go home every once in a while. But that doesn't mean go home every weekend. Go home and visit or have family come to visit you.

7. Get to know your professors. They're not all evil and a lot of them are pretty awesome. Visit them for an office hour and ask them when you have questions about your grade (just don't be rude).

8. Do the readings. Seriously, they know when you didn't read which is why they'll call on you to answer questions. It's even worse when you didn't befriend that hall mate of yours.

9. Go to a sporting event. Whether you like sports or not, go and support your school. There’s always a bunch of people there and the walk to the field/stadium is usually a nice one.

10. Make the most of it. This year is going to go by so fast it's not even funny. Take pictures, laugh a lot, call home, and embrace what this year has to offer. Enjoy it before it's gone.

Sincerely,

A College Senior

#season4