Going from high school to college is a huge change. Most college freshmen you talk to will try and tell you they have everything together and they know exactly what they are doing, but trust me they don’t. In my first few weeks of college, all I could hear about was people finding what they really wanted to do and how great college was going for them. In my head, all I can wonder is, “Am I finding my place here? Is this where I should be?” After being here for a month, I started to learn a thing or two about finding your ‘place’:
1. Don’t listen to other people
Between hearing your friends at home and people you are meeting at school, it may seem like everyone has everything together, but that’s not the case. For so many new college freshmen it takes time for everyone to find out what they are doing. It is so important to not listen to what other people are saying about what they are doing. Especially at the start of school, you need to worry about yourself. It is also important to realize that this is your college experience and it is what you make of it.
2. Get involved
The best way to really start to feel like you are finding your place is to get involved. There are so many different ways to get involved on campus, like joining clubs, volunteering, working, etc.. Like so many other people I was scared that I wasn’t fitting in. But once I started to find different ways to get involved on campus, I started to feel like I was fitting in more. In my personal experience, picking something I really enjoyed doing helped me find people more like me.
3. Everyone is different
As hard as it can be, you have to try and remember that everyone is different, and everyone will have a different college experience. It is hard to see your friends from home making new friends, but everyone will find their friends, and what they want to do on campus. My first few weeks at school, it was hard for me to see my home friends having such a great time at school, but I found that once I started to make my friend group, I fell in love with my school.
4. Don’t be nervous and give it time!
Starting new somewhere where you don’t know anyone it will take time to find things that you really like to do. Especially freshman year at a new school. Once you find people that you can be yourself with, discover things on campus that you really enjoy doing, and focus on yourself, you will start to really feel at home. I’ve only been here for a little more than a month and I already see a difference from the first week of school. If at first, you feel like things aren’t working out, don’t stress out because everything will work out.