Spoiler alert: you won’t forever.
Adjusting to college life is extremely hard. You are forced to live with someone who you may not know, be on your own in a new place, and really just be independent. For some, the adjustment may be easy but for others, it may be the most difficult experience of your life thus far. Face it, you are coming from your hometown to a brand new place full of new faces. Chances are, you won’t know many people. But, that could be the fun part.
You have a chance to recreate yourself without many people knowing who you were before you got to this place. Saint Vincent is a small school, and you may know someone from your hometown but the majority of students here do not. It is a time to be who you really want to be without any strings attached.
As a freshman you may take one of two routes: stay in your room and study all the time, or go out and party all of the time. The secret is the balance in between the two. You do not want to stay in your room every day because you aren’t going to meet anyone. However, you don’t want to go out and party all of the time because your grades will slip. Grades and friends are extremely important for college survival so finding a balance is key.
Seriously, get out of your room. Go join a club, get involved, study outside, just do anything it takes to not spend 24/7 in your room. Here at SVC, freshman live in pods which helps students meet new people. It is a really smart strategy because you get to know the people you live with, and share bathrooms with pretty well. Speaking from experience, I had an amazing pod freshman year and I still either hang out with or still just catch up the girls I lived with then throughout the year. Not everyone has this experience but there are so many pods out there so if you don’t like your own, go find another that you can fit into.
Your time in college is limited to a few short years so now is the time to get out there and make the most of it. Treat your schoolwork as a 9 am – 5 pm job and so after dinner, you have time to spend time making new friends and meeting new people. You will not be sorry if you make a few friends this year because they will help you through everything you can imagine.
It is only the end of week three and there is no need to panic if you aren’t having the time of your life like it seems that every one from your hometown is. Slow down and enjoy your newfound freedom in life. Making friends and being involved is not hard at SVC, go to dinner with your pod and join a club that pertains to your interests or major. Start there and move forward. And remember, it is only up from here.