As I am a freshman here at Marquette university and we are already heading into midterms next week, I thought I would share some things that I’ve already learned my first couple months of college!
Use Professor Office Hours I truly can not stress this enough. I have the best professors that are truly so nice and caring and genuinely want their students to succeed. I have found that going to office hours not only helps you build a relationship with the teachers, but also helps you immensely on gaining new insight on some material you might not have understood in class. Make the time to visit your professors!
Sign Up for Tutoring This is another one that I have found to be unbelievably helpful. I signed up for chem and calc tutoring because those are the classes I really needed help with, and I have found my tutors to be amazing. I understand the material so much better and it’s in much smaller groups so I can ask as many questions as I want without feeling like I’m annoying anyone because they really are there to help! They are the best and I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone that feels they will need extra help in a class. It also forces you to set aside time each week for that class which is also extremely helpful.
It’s Okay If You Don’t Make Friends Right Away Going into college as a freshman I feel as though everyone is just as scared/nervous about all of these different changes in our lives, and it’s completely okay! I also have realized that you aren’t going to make tons of friends right away. I didn’t even make a lot of friends until my second or third week in. Also, signing up for clubs/activities really helped me make friends too, so I would seriously recommend that.
Exercising is a Great Stress Reliever What I have really found is going to the university’s gym and running, even if it’s only 10 minutes, really is a great distraction and stress reliever from everything that’s going on. I think it is so important to take care of yourself, especially in a physical aspect. Running has helped maintain my stress levels so much.
Take Time for Yourself College can be so overwhelming and it is so so so important to take some time for yourself and do things you really enjoy doing. I try to watch a few episodes of Netflix a week to truly be able to fit in some “me” time so that I don’t get too overwhelmed and end up having breakdowns every night. YOU are just as important as your grades.
I hope you found some of these things helpful and just remember that you are not alone!