It’s hard to believe campuses everywhere are already filled with this season’s round of bright-eyed, hopeful, inspired but slightly petrified freshman classes. It is a time of new beginnings, fresh starts, and a sweet kick in the butt from this thing called reality. To ease some of the pain and initial shock, I decided to share some tips and tricks of my own for surviving freshman year. So, freshmen, here’s my letter to you.
Dear Incoming Freshmen,
Your time is finally here. After 18 long years of waiting, you finally made it and are beginning to settle in to this new place you now call your home. So here are just a few things I wanted you to know.
First, it’s okay to be nervous, sad, scared, or any other emotion you’re feeling. This moment in no way resembles that corny, cliché moment at the end of every coming-of-age film where the college-bound student shuts the trunk of their car, casually hugs their parents and drives into the sunset completely unfazed. I mean, how could you be unfazed when everything you’ve known for the past 18 years is about to change? So, don’t feel bad if you hold on to that last hug with your mom a little longer than usual or let your dad carry that last box in when you know you could have gotten it yourself. Moments like that don’t make you immature or not ready to be on your own; they make you human.
You say your goodbyes and begin to settle into the first weeks of your new life. Everything around you is new: new places, new people, new experiences, but I promise you all of it goes by in the blink of an eye. So, take a moment every once in a while and take it all in, because you’re only a freshman once (well, hopefully).
As reality sets in, the part of college most people seem to forget actually exists begins—school. These thoughts will more than likely cross your mind: “Is that building even on this campus?” “Is that a professor’s name or just a random assortment of letters?” and “Why am I sitting in a room full of 400 people to learn the name of cells?” Don’t worry, you’re not the only one thinking these things. I spent a vast majority of the first weeks of freshman year with a million questions just like these, walking in circles trying to find a class I’d already attended a dozen times. But that’s when I learned that no one is going to look at you like you just escaped from the asylum if you ask for directions. There are sophomores, juniors and even seniors that sometimes also have no clue where they are going. Eventually, you’ll find your way and laugh at the fact that you didn’t know how to get to that 10 am sociology class just a few short months before.
The last thing I’ll tell you about is the one thing I know you can do this year without: fear. Don’t be afraid to talk to that girl who sits next to you in college algebra or the guy you always seem to pass at the crosswalk. After all, everyone here is new, not just you, and you never know if that one “hello” might lead to the friendship or relationship you never even knew you needed. Also, I know those professors might seem terrifying with their strict demeanor and stale coffee breath, but they are there to teach you and have no clue if you’re struggling from the back row of an auditorium of 400 students. So, speak up, ask questions—as much as you hate to admit it, you are there to learn.
This year is going to be filled with good days, bad days, and days where you wake up, look in the mirror and say, “I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing.” There are probably a million more tips or tricks I could give you, but half of your journey is learning to figure out these things on your own. You can do this and you will. So, here’s to a year of laugh, tears, and memories that will last a lifetime.
Sincerely, a Sophomore