Every August colleges and universities welcomes a new batch of wide-eyed, eager students on to their campus. It is a time full of excitement, but also a little bit of nervousness. I get it. I’ve been there. Moving in to a new city and new surrounding to be all on your own when just three months ago you had to ask to go to the bathroom is overwhelming. It’s such a new and exciting time that I have put together a list of things for you to know about your first few weeks of school.
1. Go to move-in weekend events.
I cannot stress this enough. My freshmen year I didn’t go to any of these events and I truly regret it. You may not meet your new best friend at one of them, but you will meet the kid who has the same time free for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This is the place you will go with your random roommate and it will be awkward, but it will also be the first time you have an opportunity to hang out with them, so take it.
2. Make friends with your roommate.
I write a lot of pieces about college, and it’s inevitable to write about roommates when you write about college. I was so blessed with my random roommate and you could be, too. Hang out with them the first few weeks. I didn’t really know anyone when I came to college and my roommate is one of my best friends to this day. (Side note: I took a shower the evening of move-in day and my roommate’s whole family was in our room and they met me while I was in a towel. It was embarrassing to say the least, but it’s a fun story now.)
3. Don’t think you’re too cool for anyone.
Don’t be that person with their nose in the air because they think that everyone else is below them. Just don’t.
4. Unpack while your family is there because you will have things for them to take back.
I had two cars full of random stuff on my move–in day freshmen year. I really thought I would need all of it, but once you unpack you realize “wait, maybe I don’t actually need these boots I haven’t worn since I was 14.” So, by all means, unpack while your family is still with you so they can take your futon back because it ended up being too big.
5. Don’t stress out too much.
Moving to a new place is scary, especially if you go in and don’t know anyone. You’re going to stress out and that’s okay, but don’t make yourself sick because you don’t know who you’re going to eat breakfast with the following morning. The first weekend, or few weeks, are going to be weird and awkward, but I promise you that everything will work out. Join a Greek organization, join a club that interests you, or hang out by the coffee on campus to find people just as addicted to caffeine as you; do something to put yourself out there. I came from a small town and wasn’t forced to make new friends in over three years and I just threw myself into a school with 24,000 students and I was terrified, but I made it. You can make it, too.
