I like to divide the world into two types of people: those who stress out and those who don’t. If you find yourself among the first group, then you were probably in the same stressed out, nervous state of mind that I was on the first day of college. Who am I kidding? It wasn’t just the first day – I was stressed out an entire month before that first day even came. Fortunately, there are a few things I learned during my first week on campus that helped me to elimate a few concerns from my “Things to worry about that are completely irrational and unimortant but I’m still going to worry anyways” list.
1. Everyone is just as much a mess as you are — so stop being paranoid about getting everything right all the time!
In my mind, I thought college was the motherland for people who knew what they wanted to do with their lives and knew what they needed to get done constantly. After the first day or two, I realized this was not the case at all. Everyone else is just as confused as you are by the questions on the assignment, you just don’t know it yet because they haven’t verbally expressed it. Of course, it goes deeper than just assignments-when you get to know people you realize nobody really has their life together and it’s okay! We’re all learning as we go.
2. Talking to people first is a real thing that you can actually do. Seriously, just try it!
On the first day, I didn’t talk to anyone in any of my classes and it made things that much more difficult. I was afraid to strike up conversation with somebody I didn’t know beacuse nobody really seemed in the mood to socialize anyways. I left school my first day thinking, “Great, I’m going to be a loner forever!”. But the next day I made it my personal mission to make at least one friend in each of my classes and, yes, it was scary at first, but I survived and came out better than ever. You just have to accept that it’s going to be awkward at first, but within a few days you’ll practically be besties.
3. Nobody really cares how you dress
For some reason, I was very worried about how to dress for classes. I thought this would be a much bigger ordeal, and that my wardrobe needed to look as “college” as possible. After the first week I realized that nobody really cares if you dress up, down, in between, comfy, or anything else. Just wear what you want!
4. It is nothing like high school
I went into the semester thinking that it was going to be a re-run of highschool and dreading it. I mean, who wants to relive four of the crappiest years ever? My first week of college taught me that it is in fact NOT high school 2.0. It’s a whole different ball game, which is a good thing! You don’t have to worry about being in small classes with the same people you’ve been going to school with since your elementary years. Nobody knows you and you’re not cycling through the same teachers you’ve had before. It’s a fresh start!
5. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!
If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably mastered the art of procrastination. For years every teacher you have ever had has told you that you would not be able to pass a class, or get a good grade if you procrastinated, but you still managed to do both of those things through procrastination. It’s a part of who you are at this point, honestly. Well, my first week of classes proved to me why I should have listened to my high school teachers when they scolded us about procrastination. The bottom line is, procrastinating with your college work only leads to things piling up and becoming more stressful than what they initially were.
I hope these are tips that will allow you to decide and consider how to make sure YOU make the most of your college experience.