College is one of the most exciting and most terrifying ventures that a young adult can face. It incorporates a whole new city for most with new people and harder classes all with the burden of having to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. It's a huge change from having your mom cook for you to having to budget out money because you can no longer afford the luxury of double stuffed Oreos. Fortunately, there is hope to having an amazing first year. I happened to just finish my first year of college and learned that there are 6 tips that will give you the best first year of college possible.
1. Familiarize yourself with the campus.
A mistake I made was just setting my classes up online and not even paying attention to the locations of the classroom – I mean “CB1” didn’t really mean much to me when I first started college. A huge mistake that was because turns out, my classes were basically on opposite sides of the universe with only 10 minutes to get from class to class.
It is important to familiarize yourself with the campus in order to know where to go so you aren’t scrambling the first day. It's also important because you can find study spots like the Starbucks on campus, as well as the best food places to hit up when you have a break between classes.
2. Adventure in the town.
Whether you are in a new city or even the town you grew up in, it is important to adventure and explore the area. You would be surprised of all the cool things a college town has to offer. There are so many local places to meet students, which is a great way to network and make friends.
There are also these cool hidden gems that make a good place to relax at and clear the mind. If you don't have transportation, then just rent a bike, walk or even explore the halls of your living complex – you are bound to find something cool.
3. Budget your money well.
That refund check is awesome, right? That $1,000 seems like a lot, but it’s not. From having loads of money to no money, it is important to budget it well.
College has a lot to offer, and many of those things suck the money from your pockets like a child getting the last drop of Capri-Sun. If you don’t set limits on how much you can spend or what you can spend it on, you are likely to overspend, which is bad. Anything can happen, so it's better to have some money left over than none at all.
4. Attend all of your classes.
You will figure out quite quickly that not all classes require attendance and not all classes even need to be attended to scrape that A+ on a test. Getting in the habit of attending the class is good though. Even if it's easy, go to the class to work on something else because at least you are engaging academically. It may even bump up your grade from an 89 to a 90 if the professor sees you attend class regularly. When you fail to attend, you are wasting the money you paid for and are creating a habit of slacking, which future employers will be able to sense right away.
5. Actually study.
College is different from high school, obviously, but no matter how much you studied, it will require you to study a lot more. Most classes only have 4 tests that make up your grade, so you will actually have to find engaging ways to study. Use the resources at your university, look up study methods like the rubber duck method, and do not cram last minute for a test – it will screw you over during finals.
6. Participate.
Join a club, hang out at the library, even join a spin class if your campus offers it – just get on campus and do something. There are always fun events going on, which can win you some cool prizes and a lot of volunteering opportunities that would be great to put on your resume. You pay all this money to go to college, so you might as well have some fun while you are there rather than just study 24/7.
