;I am a current student at William Jessup University. I am in my second semester as a sophomore. I transferred here from a small town near the California/Oregon border, but I am not a first-time college student.
See, I graduated high school in 2005. Shortly after graduation, I moved from California to Colorado, where I attended Mesa State College on and off for about 4 years. I was not a very good student; I never really liked school, and I was dealing with a lot of stuff in my personal life that made academic life hard to handle. I dropped out in 2011 to go through a treatment program called Mercy Multiplied. After finishing that program in December of 2011, I decided not to go back to school.
Flash forward to 2014. My life was falling apart once again. My grandma invited me to come live with her and said that if I was going to be staying with her I had to go back to school. So apprehensively I did. While enrolled in College of the Siskiyous, I got the best grades I've gotten in my life, including a 4.0 GPA.
I decided to transfer to William Jessup University to continue my pursuit of a degree in Psychology and so many doors were opened, including finances!
So, in the spirit of learning, here are 8 things I have learned during my first semester at a Christian University (or school in general):
1. You may not get along with everyone you live with, and that's okay!
When I came to WJU, I only knew one person from before attending school, but I didn't know anyone I could move in with, so I was assigned roommates and placed in an on-campus apartment with 8 other girls I didn't know. I didn't get along with some of them, actually, I only got along with 3 of the girls at first. Over time, I began to get closer to most of the girls, but only because I made the decision to stop aiming to please them. I knew that if I just acted like myself, they would eventually get to know me (the real me).
2. Making friends isn't as hard as it looks, but it may not be easy either.
I auditioned for the music department, so I automatically gained around 40 girls who would soon become sisters, but I still felt like I was left out of a lot of things. I was still getting plugged into a local church, but I was also dealing with severe anxiety which meant I had a hard time making friends and believing that people wanted me around. Although it was hard for me to make friends, I did eventually find some people who I can count on.
3. Professors really do want to see you succeed.
Like I mentioned before, I was never a really good student, and I always thought that professors and faculty were never for me and wanted to see me fail. William Jessup proved me wrong. I met professors who wanted me to succeed and knew me by name and not just as a number. They work with me on assignments, and they even gave me grace if I happened to miss a class or two.
4. Plan out what you're eating that day.
The cafeteria at WJU is filled with options at every single meal, so I quickly became overwhelmed every time I would go to the cafeteria to eat. I found out that you could get the menus for the day emailed to you automatically, so I signed up for that. Every morning I wake up and look at the menus for each meal on the days I eat in the cafeteria (on Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't eat lunch in the cafeteria and I don't eat Brunch on Sundays). Then, I know what I want to eat and when.
Another thing I learned was that when you get flex money (money to use in the snack and coffee store), budget it so you don't run out in the middle of the semester, or make sure you have the means to reload your card. Coffee to go and other snacks and drinks are a great way to keep yourself awake and going if you don't have time to go back to your dorm and grab something in between classes.
5. Even if you don't have money, go out with friends and make Memories!
So my first semester at William Jessup, I didn't have a lot of money to spend. I got a job on campus as a student worker for our Fall Phonathon, Thankathon, and Spring Thankathon, but since in the fall semester we only do two Phonathons, I only got paid twice. I let the fact I didn't have a lot of money hold me back from going out and doing things with people because I may have been poor in my wallet, but I did have a lot of fear and anxiety so I didn't even want to do anything. I was stuck in this cycle of not wanting to do anything, but feeling left out. I finally realized that memories are free, even if you can't always afford things you can always go out and make memories because at least those are free.
6. Get to Know Your RA and RD - They're there for you!
Even if I was too afraid to make any friends or reach out to other students, I had an RD (Resident Director) who was there for me to help me navigate through my fear, anxiety, and insecurities when it came to making friends and getting along with my roommates. She let me sit in her office or apartment, cry, vent, rant, and rave about everything that I was dealing with. My RA (Resident Assistant) was, and still is, amazing. She listens to my concerns and brings them to whoever is in charge of fixing the problem.
7. Getting involved boosts your grades.
Not only does getting involved help you with time management--therefore helping with your grades--getting involved looks great on resumes and cover letters for future jobs, and grad school. I wanted to see what my grades would be like without getting involved in leadership or as an Ambassador for school, so I spent my first semester focusing on school with getting more involved in my sight.
8. Read What You're Assigned.
Because I go to a Christian University, I am required to take Bible classes, and just like any other class, we have required reading in those classes. For Bible classes, we're required to read the Bible, and for other classes we are required to read the normal textbooks. Making a schedule to keep track of what to read and when to do it is important, especially if there will be some kind of report on the book, or if the book material will be on tests.
I hope this list helps you as much as these things have helped me do well in school.
