Freshman year is great, but there are some ways you can make it that much better. Don't forget you are in school, don't forget you have new responsibilities, and, of course, don't forget to enjoy your year.
1. Pick a day to do laundry and stick to it.
Keep up with your laundry or you'll find yourself with almost your whole wardrobe in your hamper, leaving you with only a clean bikini top and sweatpants to wear to class. So pick a certain day to do laundry and always do it on that day.
2. Don't wait until Sunday to do your homework.
Your friends will often convince you that you “need” to go out, and you don’t need to study because you can just do your homework on Sunday. But you will hate yourself when Sunday night rolls around and you still have to write a paper, take a quiz and finish a project.
3. Go to class. Seriously, go.
I know you have probably heard this a lot, but going to class will save you and help your grade a lot more than you think. So get up even if you don't want to wake up and say "no" to going to the mall. GO TO CLASS!
4. Get along with your room mate.
You may not have a lot of control over this, but make sure you are nice and try to be friends with them. It will create a nice support system and make your freshman year that much better.
5. Study with your friends.
Sure this may sometimes end up being too distracting, so if you have major deadlines or tests, study on your own. But if you are doing homework throughout the week, studying with friends makes it more fun and will make the mundane task of going to the library something you look forward to and may indirectly help you prevent procrastinating.
6. Explore your town.
Whether your college is in a small town or a big city, explore it, find cute shops, good hole-in-the-wall food places, beaches, rivers, etc. It will make an unfamiliar place feel more familiar and may even feel like a second home.
7. Step outside your comfort zone.
Push yourself in college. Do things you thought you’d never do. It will cause you to grow in every sense of the word. Talk to people! Everyone is in the same position: they don’t know anyone so just put yourself out there and you’ll make friends.
8. Pet dogs.
OK, this may seem weird, but dogs are great! They are cute and I have yet to find a better way to relieve stress.
9. Do not listen to music at 3 a.m. in the shower.
Again, kind of weird advice, but I did this once and woke up my whole suite, so you know...just remember, you live with other people who may have normal sleeping habits, so have some respect for them.
10. Call your parents.
If your parents are like mine they won’t call you because they won’t want to smother you/ bother you, but they miss you and they deserve to hear from you. If you can't find time, try calling them while you're walking to class. It'll make the walk go faster.
11. If you don't know what you're doing, that's okay.
I changed my major second semester and I’m still not even sure if it’s what I want to do. It’s OK to be figuring it out; just make sure you figure it out before senior year.
12. Enjoy it.
You’ve probably waited a long time for your freshman year of college, but it goes by faster than you expected. You’ll miss it, so make the most of it. College is great!
