some tips for incoming college freshmen, based on the mistakes i made during my first year
✎ don’t get in the habit of skipping class for no reason. really. it might seem harmless (especially if attendance isn’t required) but it will most likely end up affecting you negatively. just go to class.
✎ try to be as organized as possible. organization can’t harm you and there are so many potential benefits to keeping your school and personal life in order.
✎ don’t be afraid to enjoy yourself. honestly, what’s the point if school is only ever miserable. there are so many ways to enjoy your experience at college, so take a break from your studies every once in a while. otherwise, you might find yourself hating school.
✎ that being said, don’t spend too much time socializing and partying. or, at least, don’t choose it over your school work altogether. you don’t want the social aspect of college to overpower the academic aspect. after all, you are most likely paying a lot of money to study there, and ignoring your studies will only harm you. find a balance.
✎ even if your classes don’t start until 2 in the afternoon, wake up at a reasonable time. it might be difficult if you’re used to sleeping in very late, but the morning is the perfect time to get some things done, and sleeping in until 10 minutes before your class does waste a lot of time. plus, you’ll probably do better in class if you didn’t just wake up.
✎ naps are good though! as long as you don’t nap during the whole day, napping is very beneficial.
✎ don’t get too involved in drama with other people. if your friend group becomes draining and exhausting because of drama, recognize that it might be better for you to take a step back.
✎ don’t get caught up in the idea of having the perfect “college experience.” do what you want to do, not what everyone else does or what you believe you’re supposed to do. there are different types of college experiences, and you don’t have to, for example, join a sorority/fraternity, go to parties, get drunk/high, etc. just because you think you’re supposed to as a college student.
✎ try to participate in class. i failed at this miserably because of my fear of talking to people lol, but it is best to be more involved in class discussions if you can. this is especially important when participation is part of your grade.
✎ if you have a roommate, don’t expect to be best friends with them. you can, but it’s not always best. in my experience, it tends to work best if you’re friendly with them, but you also have different groups of people you hang out with. this is based on preference though.
✎ get off of campus sometimes! depending on where you live, there may be a bunch of things you can do in your town with friends. you don’t want to always feel stuck at your school. that being said, there are probably a lot of things to do on campus too.
✎ if you have a source of income, try to be reasonable with your spending. you should definitely save some money for emergencies. and the money you do spend should be spent reasonably. this isn’t to say you should never spend money on things that you enjoy, but you definitely should have some sort of budget, or you might find yourself wasting all of your money on 2am trips to denny’s (if you’re me, that is).
✎ sometimes you may need to be alone. don’t feel bad telling your friends ‘no’ every once in a while. you may find it easiest to work alone, or you might just wanna relax without the pressure of being with other people. that’s okay! find a place on campus where you can be away from everyone sometimes.