When I moved into my dorm last week for school, a campus employee who was parked beside me said “Well I can tell you’re not a freshman”. He was right because this year I’m a junior. I’m not really sure what gave it away. Maybe it was what I had packed or how I knew what I was doing when I was going up to my building or maybe it was my excitement level to finally be back at school. Regardless of the reason, I realized that there are some differences in what year you are in school. Over the years, I have learned so much about college and I decided to give out my knowledge and advice to the incoming freshmen.

Don’t pack too much AND don’t pack too little.

This is such a hard one for me because I LOVE stuff. I love to decorate and make my room super cute, but if you pack too much stuff you won’t know what to do with it all. Dorms are such a small space that you usually have to share with another person so you really can’t bring your entire room from home. But at the same time, if you don’t bring enough stuff you’ll find yourself needed many different things. You never know when you might need something and then realize you left it at home.

DON’T buy your books until after you’ve had the class.

As a freshman, you get anxious when you start school and you don’t want to be unprepared for your classes, so you go out and drop like $800 on books. Then you find out that you NEVER use the book one time and you just wasted precious money that you could’ve spent on food.Before you buy your books, ask around and find other students that have had the class and ask if they used the book. Sometimes you can even ask the professors and they will tell you that you don’t need to buy the book. Another option is if you have a friend in the class, you guys can split the price and share the book. Save your wallet and don’t buy until you absolutely have to!

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

I can’t stress this enough. College is so much harder than high school. If you don’t understand something your professor talked about in class, you need to ask them. I know that it can be intimidating, but almost all professors are there to help you. They don’t want to see you fail, but you have to take the step and ask for help. Also, take advantage of your schools tutoring center. At my school, we have free tutoring for every student for almost every subject. I always get tutors even if I am doing well in the class because it helps to have someone do the work with you and it makes me sit down for that hour and actually focus on that class.

Get involved on campus

Join a club, go to sporting events, go to campus wide events, or join Greek life! This is super important, especially at my school because there’s not a lot to do here. Being active on campus will make your college experience so much better and you’ll have fun! You’ll make so many new friends that you might have never met if you aren’t involved on campus. I know that joining Greek life was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I strongly encourage others to find something to get into!

Don’t procrastinate (too much)

I’ll be honest, I procrastinate all the time. Being someone who does procrastinate very frequently, I can tell you that it’s really not a good idea. If you find out you have a 10 page paper due in 2 months, start it now that way in 2 months when you panic because its due in 3 days you’ll already have some of it done. It’s okay to procrastinate a little bit because it’s also important to have fun while you’re in college, but don’t do it for every single assignment because at the end of the semester you’ll find yourself in a big hole with no way out.

So those are just a few of the things I have learned that I feel are pretty important for the freshmen to know. College is a learning experience where we find out who we are and our place in the world. Everybody does things a little differently, but I believe if you listen to my little piece of advice it will make your first year of college even better!