I can already hear the chatter of incoming freshman as school starts. Going into another year of college, I often hear people wishing they knew something going into their freshman year. And looking back to my freshman year of college, there are a few things I wish I had known.
Try new things. No, seriously, try! You never know - you may like it! Never played a sport? Intramural sports are calling your name! Try taking different classes. Can't draw a stick figure to save your life? Take an art class! College is the place to expand your knowledge and, as a professor told me, to make yourself the smartest person in the room. This is the time to have fun, learn new things, try new things. Once you become an upperclassman, it becomes harder to do and experience new things. With a packed class schedule, work, internships - it becomes hectic. So while you have the freedom to do new things, do it!
Make a ton of friends. Sure, you did the roommate testing and got a really cool roommate, but make more friends! Go and make friends with everyone on your floor, go to clubs, join teams - make friends! Be open to new people. These people could be future peers in your field. They could help you find classes or professors you like. If you shut yourself off to only your roommate - you could miss out on some fantastic people!
Be yourself. College is a time to find yourself, that's true. But don't try and be someone you're not. If you're not the type to go out every weekend, don't pretend to be! Stay in with some friends and watch a movie. Some of those times are the best memories! College is a time to become comfortable with who you are.
Create masterpieces.That cute craft you just pinned? Do it! Your freshman year is the year that you'll have the most time for yourself. So create things while you can! Make those crafts you just pinned, create the cutest dorm room on the floor. Once you get to be an upperclassmen, you'll find that you don't have time to do every craft that you want.
Say hi, introduce yourself! Introducing yourself is scary to most people. Talking to a stranger can reduce people to the sweats. But you can do it! You never know who that stranger may end up to be. Might be a best friend, someone to share that awful class with or maybe a future employer! You never know until you do it!
Don't be pressured. If you don't feel like shotgunning that entire beer, say no and walk away. You'll be stronger for it. Just because I tell you to try new things, somethings you just won't want to do, and that's totally fine! But, don't let anyone pressure you either. College may be a place to try new things, but if something inside you tells you not to do it, don't feel like you have to and certainly don't let other pressure you to do it.
Be included, but also include. If you wanted to go to that Starbucks, but weren't included, how do you think your roommate feels when you leave her for friends? Include people, expand your circle of friends. This is the quickest way to make more friends!
Do as much as possible. If you wanted to do an intramural sport, take time and do it. Your freshman year is the year that you have the most time to do things. As the years go on, you get more responsibilities, so while you have the time - do everything you want to do. Maybe make a checklist and start checking things off! Go to that fast food place with friends at 3 a.m., go tour the local library or the history museum. This is your year to do as much as you can!
Take it all in. No, seriously. Take it in. Freshman year goes fast, so does every year after that. Before you know it, you're walking across that stage for your diploma. Take in the friends, the time you have to yourself, all of the other craziness that makes your freshman year. It's a time to remember, it's a time to make mistakes and learn from them. Your freshman year will be a time to remember - so make sure you make it worth remembering, and all the fantastic stories it'll create.
