It's midway through the first semester and a year ago I remember having a epiphany that complete made me change how I saw college. A year ago I was a freshman. I was more naive than I thought, was a little too nice, and way to eager to make my college experience perfect. But then I had a realization. It took me a month and a half to come to term that I was making a lot of mistakes. In fact, it took me until this year to fix them. So I decided to help the current and future Freshman of college and share my most regretted mistakes.
1. Letting everyone manipulate me
I wanted friends. Everyone does in college. But I wanted them so badly that I let everyone walk all over me. I didn't have a backbone and therefore never really got close to anyone. In fact, it wasn't until this year that I finally found my college squad. But the main point is that you should be nice to everyone, but not everyone in college has true intentions. Don't let yourself get manipulated even if you think they are your only chance to have a friends. Instead drop them. And just wait until better people come along.
2. Attaching myself to home too much
I have a great group of friends from home. In fact, they are basically my family. I spent all last year spending every night talking to them. Even though it was great to talk to someone about my day, it kept me from finding my new home at college. While I still love occasional chats, I try to make special time to talk to them that won't interrupt my college life. It is important to leave home life at home. This is a new life and while you always want to remember your past, holding on can affect your college experience greatly.
3. Believing the cliques
In high school it felt like their were groups of kids and they never mixed. And while college isn't necessarily better, you have to realize that these lines are imaginary. Just because you aren't in a music major doesn't mean you can't be friends with one. Break out of your bubble and allow yourself to venture into unknown territory. By breaking out of my mold I've been able to learn more and more about the theater world, and the people that encompass it.
4. Not studying enough
It's really easy to get stuck in this endless drought of just sitting in your dorm and binge watching Netflix. But soon you will realize that you had a lot of stuff to do other than watch a new show. In fact, college is a different kind of busy than college. In college its less worksheets and more reading and papers. Most professors won't really give you due dates for sections and just give you the final due date for the assignment. You have to be a lot more responsible with your time. So try to get into a cycle of studying every week. Find a new place to do your work and try to remember that college is above all a place for learning.
5. Taking care of my physical and mental health
In college it is really easy to just follow the college stereotype of eating whatever you want, and pulling overnighters. But honestly, while this seems like the typical college lifestyle it actually doesn't make anything better. While, yes, eating your favorite your desert because you're stress is a great way to lift your mood, you need to make sure to look after your well being. Also mental health seems to be overlooked. For me, I thought it was okay to ignore my stress levels, and instead just let my anxiety kick into overdrive. In reality however, mental health should be looked after a lot more. Even though the previously mentioned may seem important, your health should always come first. The most important person in your life is yourself.
