As someone who is about to move back into her dorm room and start her freshman year, I have realized that I learned so much my freshman year. I learned so much about myself as a person, but I also learned a bunch of tips that I am going to take with me next year.
When I first entered college I thought I had done my research and talked to enough people to know all there was to know. I did not in any way think I would be blindsided with anything that I was not expecting. I was so wrong starting from move in day college was different than I expected. Now some aspects of college were exactly how I was thinking that they would be and I just happened to get stuck in a place where I had to participate. Yes... I am talking about 8am classes.
Overall my freshman year was a great experience, one that I would not trade for anything. I joined clubs, made new friends, joined an amazing sisterhood, and got hired on campus. Although freshman year was wonderful, I did learn some things that you might have already figured out on your own, and if you haven't this might spare you the trouble.
1. Do not take 8 a.m. classes.
I repeat, do not take them. Now this should be a no brainer to a lot of people and if I got to choose my classes first semester I would have avoided the 8 am. Because my first semester I got stuck with an 8 am and 8:30 a.m. class, which let me tell you, I felt like I was a zombie in those classes. I would wake up, make a coffee, and walk to class in my pajamas. I had two hours after that class and between my next class so I would go back and change. When I would walk into class and my teacher (more times than not) would ask me if I was okay because I always looked really tired and kind of sick. Honestly I could probably not be able to tell you anything that I learned about in those classes. So to save my mental state from any more pain in the next semester I chose no classes before 11 a.m., best choice ever.
2. Coffee is your best friend
When school is going on I can easily drink eight plus cups of coffee. I thrive off of coffee in school. I feel like I can't even get the energy to leave the room in the morning without it. It's what I use to get through studying and it gets me through the walk to class. When school is out for the summer, however I sometimes don't even drink coffee at all. Not even one cup and I am perfectly fine. Not for school though, I embrace how addicted I am when it's not in summer.
3. Go to class.
First semester I had perfect attendance and I did not skip one class. What I realized from that first semester was that when I actually attended every class, that I don't even have to study, I just kind of know what we are working on. That is such a huge help in the long run as well because it cuts down on the time I have to study. Second semester I did not attend every single class session if I was not feeling that class that day. I wouldn't go and as a result, I didn't have as much time to do anything besides study.
5. Talk to random people.
I always hear people say that they are sitting by themselves because they don't like talking to "random" people. However, something I learned very early on in freshman year is that if you sit and talk to "random" people they're not random anymore. So whether you have not entered college yet or you have and just haven't learned that yet, try to make an effort to talk to people you don't know because who knows. They could be your next best friend.
