As I finish the first semester of my freshman year of college I am in no way an expert. I have had to make so many adjustments in the last four months and I know that next semester I will continue to do the same. Everyone has a different college experience and there is no correct method or recipe for a perfect four years. But, upon reflection of this semester, I did my best to keep a list of little tricks and tips I learned or was told along the way.
1. Always, Always, ALWAYS, do your homework.
This sounds like a given, but being away at school, or even home, it is so easy to get distracted. Especially when classes aren't every day and you can push off an assignment for a week. It is so important not to fall behind on lecture notes, an essay, or textbook readings. Slowly everything will start to build up and you will feel so much more overwhelmed and stress then you need to be.
2. Get organized right away.
This is another one that sounds so obvious and you might say "duh," of course I should be organized. But, seriously the second you get the syllabus you should log every important due date, test, midterm, or final. That syllabus is your golden ticket for all things success. Keeping a calendar, whether on your phone or handwritten, is such a necessary thing in college.
3. Go out of your way to make friends.
If you were like me in high school then your friends just kind of came about naturally and you never really had to focus on going out and making friends. I was also lucky enough to attend a college that a few of friends were also attending so I am a little spoiled on this front, but seriously this is important. Introduce yourself to people in the elevator, strike up a conversation with the girl doing her laundry next to you, joke around with your new lab partner, because you will seriously need some friends.
4. Join, Join, Join!
My school does an awesome job of hosting a huge amount of "GIMs," or general interest meetings, the first few weeks of classes as a way to get the word out about different clubs and organizations. This is a time for you to join all the things you were too scared to or just never had the time for in high school. If you kind of liked Wicked that one time you saw it, go check out the theater department; if you really enjoyed that paint party you went to last month, check out the art club. There are so many volunteer, athletic, and just all around fun opportunities for you at school.
5. Keep in Touch With Friends and Family
This is such an important one. After graduating high school people kind of made it seem like everyone would just drift apart and eventually you just be left with your friends from college. But, we live in such a digital and connected age that this doesn't have to be the case. If you have a good friend you're worried about "losing" because of college, then facetime, text, email, iMessage, Snapchat, Facebook, Tweet! Anything! We have the world at our fingertips and there are no excuses for not staying in touch. I am not going to say that it will be super easy and it will be just like it way at home, but it's doable for sure. And it is so important to call/text/facetime home often. It will really make your family's day just to talk about your first trip to the supermarket by school, or when you walked into the wrong lecture hall, or even just what interesting food options there were at the dining hall that night.
There are so many important tips and ideas that I haven't even come across yet, but I hope maybe one person can be helped a little by this.
