As spring turns into summer, the class of 2028 is just completing their freshman year of college, myself included. Diving into college, I was advised left and right that my freshman year would be an impactful, new, and informative experience, and upon completing this year, I have found it to be that and so much more. There are many things I wish I knew going into college, both physical needs and lessons learnt. Here are a few of the most notable:
If you don’t use it, you don’t need it.
No, seriously… you don’t!
“Well, I’ve never worn this skirt before. Maybe I should bring it anyway,” is how your limited dorm space becomes cluttered. We are all guilty of overpacking for vacation, but your dorm is a space you will be in most of the year, and keeping it decluttered is important for your mental health and to make the most of your space. When you choose what to bring, make sure you bring items or clothes that you know you will get use out of. Speaking from personal experience, living 2.5 hours from university, I don’t often have the chance to switch out my belongings. Making sure I only bring what I will use, and not every item I own, counts. Take the weather into account as well- you won’t need your fuzzy PJ pants in September, but after Thanksgiving Break? Well, you may want to switch out some of those jean shorts for those PJs and a toasty coat!
Seasons come and go, and people with them.
The number one piece of advice I was told going into college was, “Make friends your first week. Walk around your dorm and knock on doors, turn to the person next to you in class.” These are both amazing pieces of advice, and they helped me make many friends starting out the year. However, after a few months of getting to know all these new people around me, I came to a realization: Not every single person is going to match my idea of a friend, and, what shocked me more, was that it is perfectly okay! There are so many of us, from so many places, with so many ideas. Not every peer you meet needs to be your best friend or stay your best friend. It is okay for some people to eventually grow more distant. Along with this, in your second semester classes, you may find a few new friends who click with you, or at other moments along the way. The first week is an exhilarating time, where every single person is looking for a friend, and many of those friends will stay, but it’s okay for the puzzle pieces to shift around before clicking into place.
Watch Those Dining Dollars.
Making sure you understand your meal plan is essential to making the most of it. Be sure to understand what you are buying in your dining hall. Some items could be a meal swipe or dining dollars, so make sure to use meal swipes when possible!
Calling all my girls, there is one huge culprit to slowly losing dining dollars: Starbucks. I am the number one victim of using my dining dollars on Starbucks, and I will continue to use them. However, be sure to factor this spending in when you get your meals for the week, so as not to be blindsided when you run out of dining dollars with a month left of the semester. (Totally not speaking from experience…)
College costs money- so use your investment!
No college student is a stranger to the costs that come with an amazing education experience. The benefit to college is not just the academics, but the lifestyle that comes with it, so use what you are paying for! Try all the dining halls, check out the gym, the clubs, Greek life, and sports games. Performing arts programs, shuttles, special trips, and SET events; utilize them all! Experiences all around your campus not only get you what you pay for, but also lead to friends and hobbies you may never have discovered. My bed is full of a group of new plushie friends from SET events, my windowsill holds flowers from more events. I save hundreds of dollars on Uber by taking the shuttle to the mall and the train station. Check out what you see, it is all here for YOU!