It almost never fails - high school students who graduate and enter college almost always enter with unrealistic views of college. This is something to be expected, as a high school student has certainly never experienced the freedom and responsibility of college. However, there is a point at which new college freshmen must adapt to this new environment, or risk the discontentment that comes with unrealistic expectations. As a college freshman, I had to learn to adapt during my first college semester. Looking back, there were a few key elements that helped me to survive the first semester without getting burnt out:
1. Make strong friends.
When I say make strong friends, I don’t mean to find someone that you can have a friendly conversation with on an occasional basis. A strong college friend is someone that knows almost the same about you that you know about yourself. Granted, this level of friendship isn’t going to be reached during the first semester. The first semester is usually the time when you establish your base friend group that will remain by your side for the rest of college, or even the entirety of your life. It is important that these friends can relate with how you think and what you believe. I have found that the most common reason that freshmen switch colleges before their sophomore year is loneliness. So many students that I have talked to complain about not having anyone to talk to. Find people you relate to and cherish them. It's never not worth it to have great people by your side.
2. Make time for people and fun.
No matter how much homework you have, in the end, there is always free time to divide between things you care about and people you care about. The college experience is a short time frame in the already short human life; only about four years (five if you are a super-senior). The rest of your life after college will be devoted to some kind of occupation and retirement. So, it wouldn’t make sense to devote all of your time to homework and a job if you will be working for the rest of your life anyways. Fulfill your responsibilities, but always make time to grow close friendships. There is also no point in overworking yourself when you have access to campus activities. Always make sure to have fun and be with people.
3. Get used to a schedule.
Go to the math emporium every Tuesday and Thursday. Go to campus meetings every Wednesday night. These parts of my schedule were methodical and dry. Schedules can become rigorous, but they are essential to maintaining productivity. So many activities are going to be coming your way that you won’t know how to handle it all. It then becomes important to develop the skill of time management. In addition, if you properly develop your time management skills, you can begin to fit fun activities into your schedule like “tag in Demoss Hall every Saturday night” as I did.
The first semester of college is a defining time in your college experience. In that time, many new responsibilities and opportunities will arise. At that point, you need to have, among other things, a strong friend basis and strong time management skills so that you will know how to handle it.
