Freshman year is a weird time. It’s exciting and amazing, yet stressful and confusing. It’s the year when you’re finally out on your own and you’re starting to find yourself. Before you know it, though, it’s your senior year and you’re about to leave your home of four (or more) years.
There are a lot of things I wish I’d known my freshman year, but it’s the important stuff that I think about the most.
Get involved early.
Since I’m a senior, I’m scrambling to find stuff to put on my résumé. Graduation is right around the corner and my time is almost up.
Get involved your freshman year so you’re not scrambling your senior year. Don’t just join a club and never go to meetings. Get involved with clubs and organizations. This makes it easier to step into a leadership role down the road. Trust me, you’ll want that leadership experience. Employers eat that stuff up.
Get involved with stuff that’s relevant to your major and/or your intended field. Again, this stuff looks great on an résumé whether it’s for grad school or a job after you graduate. It may seem like it’s too early to start thinking about this kind of stuff, but lay down the ground work your freshman year and by your senior year you won’t have to worry so much.
Live out your youth.
You may be dreaming about the day you turn 21 and how your life will be the best it’s ever been after that. Well, that’s not exactly the case.
During your freshman year you’re young, you’re excited. Parties now don’t feel the way they did my freshman year, and I wish I’d taken more advantage of them. Back in the day, I’d go out almost every weekend night. Now you’ll find me on the couch watching Netflix with a glass of wine. I feel old. I didn’t feel this way my freshman year, and I wish I’d taken advantage of my youth and energy and had made more memories.
Believe it or not, one day you won’t want to go out anymore. Life will get the best of you, you’ll get busy, you won’t have the energy, whatever the reason, you won’t feel and/or be able to go out anymore. So get up for that 6 a.m. wake up call to go tailgating. Make the most of it while you can.
Make connections with your professors.
These people will make or break you. They’re the ones who are going to give you recommendations, guide you towards jobs, refer you, etc.
Your major professors are the ones you need to establish a relationship with. Our campus is not that big, and chances are you’ll have this professor again. This is good because it’ll give them a chance to get to know you better, but it’s important to start making a connection right away. You can’t get a good recommendation from a professor who only knows your name or who has never spoken to you face-to-face. Get to know your professors and let them get to know you. It’ll save you so much stress by your senior year and it’ll also unlock so many doors for your future.
They’re there to help you. Take them up on it.
Don’t hate your dorm too much.
I miss living in a dorm. I don’t miss sharing a tiny room or a bathroom, but I miss living down the hall from my friends. I’ll probably never have that again, and I wish I didn’t complain so much or wish the time to go by faster.
The dorm is a breeding ground for friendships. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t come out of my room and meet the people I lived with. I made connections with some of them that have carried me through college. My best friends were the ones I met in the dorm, and most of them are still with me. However, I miss living with them, because I’ll never have that again. I’ll never get that time back. I miss the movie nights in the lobby, the sneaking around, the late night talks in each other’s rooms, the game nights, I miss it all. I wish I’d cherished my time in the dorm more instead of begging to get out.
You’ll never get this time back. It may suck now, but make the most of it. You might regret it later.
Friendships don’t always last forever.
“It happens sometimes. Friends come in and out of our lives, like busboys in a restaurant.” – Stand by Me
Friendships in college are different than they are in high school. You find your people easier in college. This, however, doesn’t stop the inevitable of fading apart. You may find your people freshman year – your group. Treasure them. Those people may not be there a year or two from now, or if they are, you may not be as close as you were your freshman year. Everything’s new freshman year, and you and your friends are just trying to find your way. Sometimes we go different ways in trying to find ourselves. That’s okay.
Not every friendship will fade away. You may keep some of the same close friends as you did your freshman year. That’s great, but the reality is that it’s rare. You’ll move dorms or apartments, you’ll take different classes, join different clubs, and make different friends. It happens.
So treasure the people who are by your side right now. Live in the moment with them. But be prepared to not have them there forever. Make the most out of the time you have with your group.
Bottom line: make the most out of your freshman year and treasure every aspect. Time goes by way too quickly, and you’ll wish you could go back.
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