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

Transitioning from high school to college can be tough at times. Especially if you’re living on campus. You’re on you’re own! I know I was excited to be somewhat separated from my strict home life. Little did I know how many obstacles I would be faced with. Your true strengths and weaknesses will be revealed. Try and take time to figure out how to balance them as you go on through out the year. Many influences such as making new friends and partying will trigger these weaknesses as well as the strengths. Pay attention to how you react to things and try be aware of yourself and what works for you. For me I found out that I need to work on my self confidence. I didn’t really quite believe in myself making my first semester very stressful. College was a place where I could figure myself out and further help myself reach my goals.

College is full of exciting new experiences and with those experiences comes great responsibility. It’s not all fun and games as the movies tend show. To get the best out of your college experience I’d say having a good work ethic and taking care of your mentality is key. It was kinda scary to see how all my bad habits and flaws negatively effected my academic and social experience. I had to quickly check my ethic and mental state. If you don’t check where your heads at frequently you could find yourself in a sticky situation. A good work ethic will supply the tools for you to succeed and sustaining a healthy mentality gives you the ability to grasp that success. These are just two of many things you should keep in mind when starting your first year. 

Also don’t forget to take care of your mental health! I cannot stress this enough!!!! I have horrible anxiety in the classroom which hindered me from doing as well as I could’ve and I never looked into it or tried to remedy the issue. This major obstacle was revealed to me as soon as I sat down for my first piano lesson. Your mental health is essential for you to reach your goals. You have to speak positivity into your life and believe in yourself. Something I wish I had done my first year. No one can reach success all by themselves but at the end of the day YOU are the one that has to put in work to get there. Having a personal drive is essential for this to happen and like a vehicle needs a working engine to run people need a healthy mind to thrive. Don’t be the one to get in the way of your own success. Be your own biggest fan and go after your dreams.

I am a Psychology Major with minors in French and Gender Studies on a Pre-Med. While I want to focus my future career on women's health, I currently want to focus on uplifting the voices of the women on my campus! I am an intersectional feminist, I love Beyoncé and my twitter page is a visual representation of my personality.