25 Tips You'll Need For Your First Year Of College | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

25 Tips You'll Need For Your First Year Of College

Freshman year can be difficult, so here's some advice to help get you through your first year.

172
25 Tips You'll Need For Your First Year Of College
Steven Panicko

You’ve dreamed of this day ever since you graduated from high school, and it’s finally coming after a long summer filled with work every week, and music festivals with your friends. Your first day of freshman year in college is just around the corner. The first semester of your freshman year may be a difficult time, as you adjust from your luxuries at home, to sharing a dorm room, having to eat dining center food, doing your own laundry, and having to become a functioning adult in society.

As a junior in college, I completely understand. I was once a freshman myself, and to make life a little easier for your freshman year, here is some advice I wish I would have been told going into my first year.

1. Organization is your key to success

Write down all your due dates for exams, assignments, etc.


2. Meet with your professors

Go to their office hours, they’re always there to help you.

3. Always attend your classes

Pretty obvious, but you have to motivate yourself to go every day to stay ahead and to understand the course material.

4. Wear Flip Flops in the bathroom

Just trust me on this one…

5. Take good notes in class and write everything down

Your notes will be your key to success in your classes, make sure you write them clearly and write every note down. Professors aren't going to hand you the notes all the time like in high school. You have to learn to be self-sufficient in your classes.


6. Love sports? Try Intramural/club sports

As a former athlete, I’ve played four intramural sports and it’s a lot of fun and gives you a ton of friends, all who have some of the same interests as you!

7. Make time for weekly exercise

Don’t gain the freshman 15, make some time to go get a workout in

8. Become close with your roommate

Whether they’re your best friend or a random, try to become friends with your roommate because you will be sharing a room all year


9. Attend sporting events

Show some school spirit, and attend the football, basketball, and any other game that interests you.

10. Don’t be shy, make new friends

I’ve met a ton of amazing people while at college, plus it helps to have friends in your classes.

11. Make time for fun

When you’re not studying, make some time for fun! Go party (responsibly).

12. Take care of your health

It is hard, but try to maintain a balanced diet and try to stay healthy, being sick while in college sucks.

13. It’s okay to feel lost or scared

A lot of people feel the same way, try talking to friends or a counselor if you feel this way.

14. Party responsibly

Yes, it’s fun to party with your friends, but don’t overdo it. Stay safe and make sure all of your work for the week is done.

15. Be involved

Go Greek, join a club for your major, do volunteer work, study abroad. The possibilities are endless.

16. Try to avoid 8 AM classes

Again, just trust me on this.

17. It’s okay if you have to stay an extra year

It doesn’t mean you’re not smart at all, another year or extra semester will help prepare you for your future even more.

18. Take time to de-stress

College is a very stressful time, but it is important to take the time to de-stress from your day. Do yoga, go workout, listen to music, do anything to help you unwind.

19. Rent your textbooks

You will save a ton of money by renting textbooks instead of buying them.

20. Be friends with everyone on your floor

These are the friendships that last years even after you all have graduated.

21. Find your ideal study spot

The library is a great place to get studying done, in your room in front of the TV? Not so much.

22. Read as much as you can

Many assignments in college courses involve reading, so make sure you read everything you are assigned.

23. Utilize computer labs, tutoring centers, and other University resources

They’re there to help you, so use them.

24. Manage your time wisely

Start an assignment the day it’s due, writing a paper at 1 AM that’s due the next day is not fun.

25. Enjoy every moment of your 4 years

College is a great time, make sure you enjoy every moment because it goes by so fast.


The best advice I could ever give as said in number 25, is to enjoy your time in college. It’s a crazy adventure where you make so many memories along the way, but unfortunately it doesn’t last forever. So yes, study hard but also make sure to have fun and enjoy this long adventure.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

1780
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

301194
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments