Dear college freshman,
First of all, congratulations on choosing to further your education. I’m sure this isn’t the first time you will hear this so I am just going to enforce it: high school is not the best four years of your life, college is. Although I just ended my first year and I have three years left, I can tell you I have enjoyed one year of college one thousand times more than four years of high school. But I will admit, I didn’t stumble once (or 50 times) trying to find my way and nearly nothing went as planned. There were many things I learned, outside of the classroom, that I want to share with you… so, let’s start from the top:
Move-in day is filled with emotions: happy and sad. You are leaving life as you know it to go out and begin your path to your future. This is all so exciting, but don’t get worked up if you don’t have a major yet… you have plenty of time to worry about that. But truthfully, I doubt you will even be thinking about your major while you are unpacking all of your boxes on move-in day because one of your main concerns will be making new friends. You will see countless unfamiliar faces but trust me, you will find people to hang around during orientation. The one thing you will learn along the way though is: The friends you make that first week of school, will probably not end up as your close friends or maybe even friends by the end of the year (excluding your roommate). Trust me, it is ok to lose these friends so do not be hard on yourself over the loss. Most likely you didn’t even have much in common anyway!
After orientation, when classes begin, so do clubs and activities. Remember: You are NOT too cool to attend the activities fair. So, go. Go and learn about different things on campus and find things you may be interested in. It is ok to overwhelm yourself and go to a lot of clubs the first few weeks to see where you fit best. Just because you go to something a few times, doesn’t mean you are committed for the year. So test the waters, find your place and GET INVOLVED. You will make so many friends through clubs and activities. And the best part is, most of the people that you will befriend through clubs and activities are people you probably never would have interacted with if you decided to stay in your room. Another positive to getting involved is the learning of time management. Not only will you have to manage your activities and school work, but you will also need to manage friends, exercise and anything else life throws at you.
Have I made it clear enough that a social life is important? Well, now we are going to go in the opposite direction. As important as a social life is… having some alone time is also important. You will be living with someone else so any time you get truly to yourself, you will learn to appreciate. Sometimes, some peace and quiet is really all you need. Especially after a stressful day.
BUT SERIOUSLY, a social life is important but you are in college for schooling so remember that studying IS a necessity. If you need to pick between a party and studying/ doing work for a class, always pick what is benefiting your learning instead of what is hurting your liver. I promise, there will be other parties.
Of course, there is way more freedom in college than in high school. It truly is awesome but make sure you aren’t being an idiot about it. No one is forcing you to go to class but this isn’t a reason to just not go. I promise, college is nowhere near as easy as high school is so you can’t just skip out on classes regularly.
I will be honest with you, things are going to go the way you expect, but they will also go full force in the other direction. Make sure to give yourself the opportunity to take a step back and accept what did or did not go the way you planned. Don’t let peoples words about you get to your head and also don’t stoop down to their level. You are so much better than the girl who is talking about something you did the previous weekend.
This is going to be an eye-opening experience for you, but don’t be afraid. Everything is going to work out how it should.
Love,
The girl who was once in your shoes
P.S. When you go out to parties, or out in general… don’t wear your lanyard around your neck.
