As the sun shines brighter, the flowers bloom and the beginning of summer feels close, I always reflect on the previous school year. But this year has been different. Instead of the usual excitement I feel for the summer – tanning at the pool, going to the mall and most importantly, not having schoolwork – I feel myself almost dreading it. As a freshman in college, summer feels like the end to a year that has changed my life. The end of being with my new best friends. The end of living in my small yet comforting dorm room. The end of waking up every morning and choosing how I want to spend my day. As I reflect on my freshman year, I have a few tips for incoming students on how to survive and thrive in your first year in college.
- DO join clubs and extracurriculars
During my school’s fall activity fair, I did not know what I wanted to join, other than my sorority. Walking around campus, seeing tables filled with many different pathways of what I could do was terrifying. At the beginning of the year, I joined many different clubs, ranging from run club to Spinning out of Control, a club dedicated to pottery, to HerCampus, to even a club dedicated to playing pickleball. Although joining all of these clubs was great – especially because it introduced me to Her Campus — I found a better method for picking out how to be involved on campus. I learned that if I joined one club that was based on my major, one club that revolves around something I have always wanted to do, and one club that is for pure fun, I would feel fully enriched by all three.
- DO take classes that interest you (even if they are not connected to your major)
As a freshman, course loads tend to be full of general education requirements and other classes revolving around starting your major off strong, but I realized that it is okay to take classes unrelated to your major or minor simply because they interest you! One of the major benefits I found was that by taking a class that was not related to my major, (an education class about the development of learners), I realized I was more interested than I thought in using my major in psychology to help kids in a school setting, which helped me decide that I wanted to minor in education. Another benefit to taking classes that interest you is that it keeps you engaged in what you are learning, especially while you take required classes that might not be the most interesting.
- DO get these three crucial dorm room items
If there are three items that I would recommend to any college freshman, they are: a mattress pad, a microwave and plenty of medicine. A mattress pad can make or break your sleep, especially with all the late nights that freshman year holds. My microwave has been my savior when it comes to late-night snacks when the dining hall and other food options on campus are closed. My number one most helpful item to have in a dorm room is medicine. The freshman flu is no joke, especially since you are constantly around people who are sick, and being able to possibly prevent and help cure any sickness can save you from being down in the dumps.
- DO NOT keep superficial friendships
Welcome week and the first weeks of freshman year can be chaotic, especially when trying to make friends. At one time, I met 40 or 50 people in a required orientation session, and I was overwhelmed, to say the least. Though many people say that “Your welcome week friends are not going to be forever friends,” this is not always true; friendships in college are fluid. Three of the closest friends I have met at college have been there with me since the first day of freshman year, but at the same time, many friendships that I thought would be there until the end turned out to be superficial. Freshman year is filled with meeting new people, which makes it confusing to figure out whether you should be friends with all of them or not. My advice is to keep people in your new chapter who uplift you and add value to your life.
- DO NOT skip too many classes
One of the many freedoms you gain when coming to college is that you can decide whether or not to attend class. In high school, my mom ensured that I never missed school, which made me terrified about skipping classes once I began to attend college. This has been reinforced after I missed a few important lectures. Minimizing the number of classes you skip keeps you on the right track. One of the biggest benefits to attending classes is that professors have attendance policies that will eventually factor into your final grades, which can majorly boost or lower your grade. Another benefit is that some professors do not post content mentioned in class, and being in class also allows you to absorb the content firsthand. Now, I am not preaching to always attend class because, being fully transparent, after a horrible day, going to my least favorite class that ends at 5 p.m. is not on my agenda. But consistently going to class will help you succeed.
- DO NOT just stress out
Freshman year can be stressful. Very, very stressful. Thinking back on the year I have had, there have been stressful moments that have torn me down to the point where I have asked, “Is college right for me?” or thought, “I really wish I was at home right now!” But then again, freshman year has been the best year of my life. I found my best friends in the world; I joined clubs and my sorority, which both have allowed for me to express myself; I learned more about my major and minor, which makes me excited for the future; and all on top of that, I learned more about who I am than ever before.
My best advice for any incoming freshman is to simply go! Go have fun with your friends, go get ice cream in the dining hall, go explore your college town, go join clubs, go laugh, even when it feels like you should not, and most importantly, go find who you want to be.