Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
rodion kutsaev 8P uQaTd8rw unsplash?width=719&height=464&fit=crop&auto=webp
rodion kutsaev 8P uQaTd8rw unsplash?width=398&height=256&fit=crop&auto=webp
/ Unsplash

5 Things I Learned My Freshman Year

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

It’s okay to get a bad grade on an exam

College exams are rough. It’s a known fact. Sometimes things happen and you get a bad grade on an exam. IT’S OKAY!! There is more than one opportunity to boost a grade. Start going to SI sessions or get help from other people. So rather than dwell on one bad grade, focus on future exams and assignments and get as many points possible to help boost your grade in a class.

 

You don’t have to be involved in everything

This one is extremely hard for me to come to terms with because there are so many interesting fun things to do and join in on campus. When I first came to Purdue, I wasn’t sure of what clubs I wanted to be in. But after learning about the different clubs here on campus, I wanted to join all of them! Unfortunately, there’s definitely not enough time in the week to join all the clubs I want. So pick the ones that are the most interesting or the ones that you click with the best.

It’s okay to say no

It can get really stressful and busy adjusting to classes and everything else that’s happening freshman year. At times during my freshman year, when asked to go out or participate in activities, I would feel a little bit of pressure to say yes and if I did say no, I would feel bad. However, I learned that I should never do anything I’m not comfortable with for the sake of someone else. I needed those days/nights to myself at times to wind down from the busy week and relax. It’s okay to say no and stay in because even though I said no, I was still able to have an amazing first year filled with new experiences, new memories and new people.

Use your planner

Using my planner can be really hard because it’s so easy to forget and not use. But without it, I would definitely be forgetting about assignments that I have to finish. College can get extremely busy and it’s hard to remember everything. It also helps me feel more on top of things, even when I’m not.

 

You don’t need that top

Shopping is definitely a problem for me because I find it super relaxing at times. But it’s really bad for my wallet. During my freshman year, I explored online shopping a lot more and would go downstairs to the front office to pick up packages. Sometimes I would pick up a package and not really know what I was picking up because I had ordered so many things. Then I would end up taking it home and returning it. This was really bad because even though I ended up returning things that I bought, I would still lose a lot of money from shipping.

 

All the way from Phoenix, Arizona, Janice attends Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where she is currently a bioengineering major. Spending her time daydreaming Janice can be found jamming out to any song, watching netflix, or studying for the terrifying tests she has around the corner. You can follow her adventures @janichan on instagram.
Danielle Wilkinson is an Atlanta native and currently a senior at Purdue University studying Mass Communication. She is the co-correspondent and Editor-in-Chief of Her Campus Purdue. She has written for several online and print publications in the past including The Purdue Exponent, The Tab, Society 19, Study Breaks Magazine and Voy Study Abroad. She loves traveling, shopping and everything entertainment, especially movies and TV, but 90s rom coms will always be her favorite. She hopes to move to California one day to pursue a career in marketing. In her free time, she loves YouTube, watching movies with her friends, working on her novel, drinking tea and reading books.