Your freshman year of college can be daunting; I should know, I recently lived it. So much changes in your freshman year: it’s your first taste of freedom, you gain and lose friends and you are forced to step out of your comfort zone.
The biggest shock in my freshman year was how much freedom I had. No one to tell me when to go to bed, what or when to eat and to do my homework. All that freedom can be paralyzing. My biggest advice to avoid this paralysis is to get into a routine, log your assignments in your planner, set a bedtime and set aside time every day to go to the dining hall to eat a well-rounded meal.
One of the biggest lessons I learned in my freshman year of college is that it’s okay to let friendships end. Outgrowing people or walking away from connections that demand you shrink or compromise yourself or your values is a normal part of personal growth. Your friends should never weigh you down, they should always support you and lift you up. It can be hard to let go of a high school friend you thought you’d know forever, and this may sound cheesy, but sometimes when you close a door, it allows new ones to open.
Another thing no one tells you is that nobody will chase you down to ask if you are okay or need help. It is really important to take advantage of the campus resources, like going to a professor’s office hours when you are struggling with a concept and scheduling meetings with your advisor to talk about both your short-term and long-term future. I schedule a meeting with my advisor at least once a semester for help scheduling my classes, but also to check in.
Lastly, being in college forces you to step out of your comfort zone. Classes are more spread apart and you have so much more time on your hands that can either be filled by rotting in your dorm or by meeting new people and making new friends. It is so easy to become an introvert and spend all your time in your dorm, but it’s important to recognize that to grow and mature, you need to step outside and take risks and say ‘yes’. Join that club you know no one in, accept that invite to a party, apply for that study abroad program. I’ll never forget those late-night study sessions, cramming for that exam we all thought we were going to fail. If I didn’t say ‘yes’, I wouldn’t have made new friends or memories I’ll remember forever.
College is what you make out of it. If you don’t step outside and let anxiety or fear of failure win, you’ll miss out on friendships, new experiences and the version of yourself waiting on the other side.