With my return to campus post-winter break, it has finally hit me that I have been in college for a whole semester— which is especially crazy considering I still feel like a high schooler. Although I believe that it was a successful few months overall, I must admit that I’m not perfect. So I think now is a great time for me to look back on my freshman fall and see what exactly I’ve learned through Boston University’s tough love.
- Getting up for an 8 a.m. isn’t as easy as it sounds
-
If you’re anything like me, then you woke up at 6:30 a.m. or earlier every weekday during high school. With that in mind, it sounds like a piece of cake to wake up at seven or 8 a.m. in college for an early morning class, especially if it only happens once or twice a week. At least, that’s what I thought when I signed up for a 9 a.m. class last fall— but I was sorely mistaken.
It’s incredible, really, how quickly your body adjusts to late nights and late mornings. My sleep cycle shifted dramatically once I settled in, and even waking up at 8 a.m. felt offensively early. Now in my second semester, I was unfortunately given no choice but to take an 8 a.m. class that meets twice a week, so I can tell you that it doesn’t get much easier.
This won’t be true for everybody. Some people are early birds, and I have endless admiration for them because of it. However, for better or worse, life tends to happen at night in college, so I would advise people to take that into account when course registration comes around.
- Pace yourself
-
When everyone around you is going to parties and when your school is constantly advertising events of all kinds, it can be very tempting to shirk work for a weekend in favor of hanging out.
I fell for this trap during my first couple of weeks, and each time, I found myself drowning in homework come Monday. The truth is, deadlines sneak up quickly, and it can be difficult to accurately estimate how much time it will take to complete each assignment or reading. This is how I learned the importance of pacing yourself.
Try to avoid having entirely unproductive days. This doesn’t mean working yourself to the point of burn-out, but it does mean doing assignments little-by-little. If it’s hard for you to find the motivation to work this way, you could always try rewarding yourself each time you complete, say, an hour’s worth of homework.
It’s also important to remember that the social activities going on around you will always be going on. Just because you miss one hockey game, or just because you can’t make it to one party, doesn’t mean that you’re going to become totally socially isolated. There will always be another event.
- Find the right people
-
This is perhaps the most difficult thing I learned last semester— short of all the classes I took. When you find yourself in a new environment, it can be alienating. After being surrounded by friends and family for so long, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of strangers. This might lead you to cling to every friendly face you see.
This happened to me last fall. Anytime someone seemed kind, I immediately decided they were someone I could hang out with. But no one is able to get along with everyone, and you and your classmates are no exception. You will meet people who, despite being nice, you can’t get comfortable around. And life is too short for you to keep those kinds of people close.
Though it may take some time away from these people for you to realize whether or not you were comfortable with them, it’s important to reflect on it eventually. You will meet so many unique people in college, so it’s a fact that you will find the right ones someday. Until then, all you can do is try, and admit to yourself when something isn’t working.
These three lessons, and many other less significant ones, come from mistakes I made last semester. Now, I will learn from them as I move forward with my college career. I can only hope that these lessons will help others the same way.
With that, I wish everyone luck on their future pursuits, and here’s to a good spring semester!
Want to keep up with HCBU? Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, check out our Pinterest board, and read our latest Tweets!