Welcome to our university! Your time here will be some of your most favorite memories. You will meet so many people from all over the world and even people who will become your best friends. You will start to feel like a real adult and learn so much about yourself during your time here.
You never really realize how amazing freshman year of college is until it is over. Slow down and enjoy it. Hangout with your roommate but get to know the people across the hall too. If you live in a traditional dorm, keep your door open as much as possible; you never know who will pop in to say hello. If you live in the suite style dorm, go to all of the events your RA’s or CA’s plan! They put so much time and energy into them, and the events are always fun.
If you see anything on campus that says free food, go to it. Even if it does not seem like something you are interested in, go. Free food is the best and usually it consists of pizza, fruit and cookies. Yum! Whoever your “group” or “second family” ends up being at college, try to make a weekly thing of going to dinner with each other. It is pretty cool rolling up squad deep to the dining hall, and it feels like you are back at home when you are all eating dinner and talking about your days!
Make sure to go to the organization outbreaks and sign up for clubs. Try to get to the first meeting, and if after that meeting you are not really feeling it, that is OK! Just give it a shot. Most clubs end up doing really cool events either with your campus, or they take trips to surrounding cities, or day trips to local places. It really gives you a way to get to know your community better, as well as your college.
If you are even slightly interested in Greek life, go out to recruitment! Going to recruitment does not mean you have to join; at any point, you can choose to stop attending the events. You get to meet a lot of really incredible people, and if you end up joining one of the organizations, you just joined your forever home.
Go to the parties. Not all of the time, but go to at least one. Take it from someone who did not go to many their freshman year. You do not have to drink. You do not have to do anything you are uncomfortable with. Just go and have an amazing time with your friends. The best part of parties is all the crazy stuff that happens, and you get to talk about it after the party. Because after the party, you and your friends just lie around eating take out and being the best kind of lazy bums you can be.
Work out. Get a tutor. Go to the health center. See a therapist. OK, OK, maybe only if you have to on the last two, but when else in life do you have free access to all of these things? Well, they are not technically free, you pay for them in your tuition, but still you have all this access to high quality things, take advantage of it. The freshman 15 is real, and going to the gym really helps as a stress reliever which you will definitely need come midterms.
The last thing you should do during your freshman year of college is take pictures and write in a journal. You do not realize until looking back that those moments you had are now your favorite memories. The year that seemed like it would never end, has ended. Before you know it, you are packing up and your freshman year is done. Then in a blink of an eye, you are a senior in college and wish more than anything that you could go back and relive all of your freshman year again.
I know it seems scary now, but it really is the best time. Have fun!
