Freshman year is a year of total exploration in which you will discover new things that you’re interested in. You may find your passion to be anthropology class, skydiving, or the art of emptying red solo cups. Finding out things you don’t like such as statistics and on-campus parking can be a total wet blanket, but luckily you’ll find a way to move on from the negatives and enjoy your first year of the best four years of your life!
You will meet new people, some good and some bad. But then one night while running home from Uptown in the rain with a trash bag covering your new outfit from Juniper, you will find another group of girls doing the same thing. Before you know it, you and this group of girls will merge and all of you will be clicking your heels Uptown for many nights to come.
To help you find your perfect niche here at Miami and ease the transition of freshman year, HC has come up with some fabulous do’s and some definite don’ts:
DO:
Do Keep Your Door Open. Keeping your door open in the dorm will allow you to meet your neighbors living next door and new people passing by. Even if they don’t become your favorite people, at least you tried!
Do Join New Clubs. Go to Mega Fair and write down your name for at least ten clubs. From there you can attend info sessions and decide which ones to join. The more organizations you join, the more people you will meet, and the more connections and friends you will make.
Do Attend Events. Dorms, clubs, and classes offer several events from guest speakers to cookie making. If you attend and have fun, you have fun. If you attend and decide it is lame, you can always leave.
Do YOLO. This is cliché, but you only live once and college only happens once. Do things you wouldn’t normally do and try things that might make you feel uncomfortable at first. This is how you can establish your likes and dislikes!
Do Accept Change. This is the most important lesson I learned after first semester my freshman year. Life is constantly changing and for most people, it’s the first big change. Realize now that your life will never be the same and embrace it. If not, you will be miserable and miss out on all the fun college has to offer.
Don’t Wear A Lanyard. While this one is the most obvious, it can never be over repeated. Take it from a junior, if you have one, either throw it out now or attach it to your car keys. Those are the only acceptable places for such a thing.
Don’t Take Out Your Campus Map While In Public. If you are feeling lost or are curious about your surroundings, DO take out your phone and upload a map app, or use your GPS. The phone map is much more tolerable for upperclassman to watch and also much more convenient for blending in. Your phone is always with you anyways, right?
Don’t Lock Yourself In Your Room. One of the biggest mistakes freshmen can make is shutting their door and watching television by themselves. Wait to watch Revenge before you go to bed, when everyone else is calling it a night. This will force you to meet new people during the day.
Don’t Hold On To Old Times. Sure that high school boyfriend and your mom doing your laundry might seem like good reasons to go home each weekend, but one day you’ll look back and realize that they are not. The past is in the past, and though it can help shape your future, don’t rely on or get stuck in it. There are plenty of breaks in the semester to spend time with your loved ones at home!
Don’t Try To Prove Yourself To Anyone. Be yourself. You’ve probably read this several times in your “So you’re going to college” self-help book, but it’s the best advice out there. Trying to show off to that cute boy on the third floor won’t usually give you the best results in the dating world. The only person you should try to prove yourself to is your calculus teacher!
Most of these do’s and don’ts go back to the common theme of meeting new people in college, one that I believe is very important. Now in my junior year, I can confidently say my friends are some of the best I’ve ever had. From taking me to the emergency room when my mono was at its worst (and stopping to get hot dogs on the way), to sneaking onto the Florida Georgia Line tour bus and getting kicked off, college with my friends by my side has been the time of my life. As Dave Matthews once sang, “Turns out it’s not where you are, but who you’re with that really matters”.