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6 Tips for Your First Year of College from a First-Year College Student

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bates chapter.

Don’t worry if you don’t remember everyone’s name…

Chances are, they don’t remember yours either. Everyone’s meeting tons and tons of people at the beginning of the year which is normal because you want to start knowing who you’ll get along with the best. But it’s ok if you can’t seem to recall that one kid with the red sweater’s name, you’ll get it eventually.

But just in case you want to know their name without asking…

I figured out a really simple technique to figure out someone’s name without actually having to admit to them that you forgot it. Ask them to put their phone number in your phone, or their Instagram, or Snapchat, or Facebook. They’ll type in their name and voila! You’re all set. Despicably genius…

If you have a problem with your roommate, tell them…

If you have a problem with something your roommate does right from the start, it will keep bothering you for the entire year. And as much as you hate to be the uncool roommate, trust me on that one, you’ll both be better off knowing what bugs you. Hopefully, they might also open up to you about something that you do that’s been bothering them and you’ll have a much better relationship.

Join as many clubs as you possibly can…

Clubs are a really – and I mean really – easy and fun way to meet people. And guess what? If you’re all here, it means you have something in common! Start off a conversation with that! Just sign up, go to a couple sessions and see if you dig it. My goal was to join at least one club that I didn’t think in a million years I would be joining, just to try something new and see if I liked it and I encourage anyone to do the same because I am not regretting it.

Go for a run…

Every once in a while, you should go for a walk or a run firstly because it’ll keep you in healthy and in shape. Secondly, chances are you don’t really know the surroundings of your new campus and what better way to know the streets than to roam them? Thirdly, it gives you time to think about all the changes that are going on in your life right now, and God knows there’s usually quite a few during that first year so go on as many runs as you can. You’ll thank me later.

It’s ok to sit alone in the cafeteria…

You don’t have to find someone to go to breakfast, lunch and dinner with every single day, it’ll be draining. You need some me-time and everyone else does too. Watch a movie, read a book, get homework done, Facetime friends and family while you’re eating by yourself. No one will judge because they will probably do the same sometime soon.

Elizah Laurenceau is a senior at Bates College. Her hobbies consist of rewatching Call Me By Your Name, using Huji to take pictures, and playing with her dog. She spends her days either glued on her computer or late nights finishing up work.