Imagine every possible “canon event” that could happen to someone their freshman year of college. Got them? Well, they all happened to me. As a current sophomore looking back, I could not be more grateful for my freshman year because it shaped me into the person I am today. The experiences and life lessons that I was taught only benefited me, and I can’t wait to see what comes in my future years at the University of Connecticut. From academics, love, and friendships to social life, I’ve learned so many lessons and hope to give some of you my biggest lessons and advice!
Starting off with your social life and friendships, I lived in the North residence halls during my freshman year at UConn, commonly referred to as “The Jungle.” Although some might say it is the “worst” dorm on campus, I happened to meet some of my closest friends there. I actually loved living in the North, even though the bathrooms were a bit questionable. As a health sciences major, North was closest to many science classes and super convenient whenever I woke up late. My biggest tip to any freshman is to literally go knocking on every person’s door on your floor. My roommate and I did this, and even though it was a little intimidating at first, it was an easy way to introduce ourselves to our floor mates. When moving in and unpacking our stuff, we also left our door open so anyone was able to pop by and say hello. The first couple of weeks of college, everyone is super approachable, and this is the easiest time in college to make new friends! Since everyone is new as a freshman, most people are feeling a bit nervous, anxious, homesick, etc. Just know that your emotions are valid and that you are not alone! Put yourself out there and join clubs, organizations, or Greek life. Look on UConntact to see a full list of every possible organization you could join, to meet new people and find your passions. Greek life is also a great way to get involved. Additionally, your friends that you first met during the first two weeks of school might not be the people that you end the year with, and that’s okay! The friends that you hang out with the most will most likely change throughout the year based on schedules, clubs, etc. My biggest tip during freshman year is to just constantly put yourself out there, even if you already have a friend group. You never know who you might end up clicking well with.
Academics are the next thing that I personally felt a huge shift in between high school and college. In high school, I used to be able to walk into class, look at my notes once, and go on to take the test without any struggle. I took advanced placement and dual enrollment classes to get credit for introductory college courses and help me prepare for college. When I actually got to UConn, though, I realized that high school classes were nothing like my college classes. Chemistry 1127Q and 1128Q were probably by far the hardest classes I’ve ever had to take in my life. They are known as the “weed-out” courses for STEM majors. College taught me quickly that I would have to re-evaluate my study strategies if I wanted to do well. My biggest tip that I would have to give is to review your notes daily, especially right before and right after class. Use active learning strategies and invest in a whiteboard. A lot of professors in college expect you to come into class knowing the material already. This is called a flipped classroom design, which means you have to put the work in before you even attend the lecture. Review daily! Putting in literally one hour into each of your classes every day will save you before exam dates. Trust me, you do not want to be first learning the content the night before the exam. Save yourself the stress. Get yourself a notebook or iPad and take thorough notes. The content in college is a lot more dense than in high school, and you really have to grasp concepts well in order to do well on exams. For heavy memorization classes, use Quizlet. Go to office hours and get close to your professors. For conceptual classes such as General Chemistry, do practice problems before exams. Most professors post practice problems on HuskyCT, and I highly recommend you do them. Practice problems help solidify concepts that you’re having trouble with. Additionally, make friends with people in your classes. Joining pre-professional organizations helps so much by getting to know people in your classes. Having a network of people to lean on during stressful moments like midterms and finals week is so important.
Lastly, I’d like to dive into love and relationships. Everyone entering college is at a different stage of their “love life.” Some people are entering college in long-term relationships from their hometown, some people are single, some have never dated, etc. My biggest tip that I could give while you’re in a relationship or single is to never stop prioritizing yourself! College is such a special time in your life, and you are exposed to so many new people for the first time. The most important thing is to fill your own cup first! Also, the first college situationship is a canon event. My personal recommendation is to focus more on finding your true friendships first and get settled into college life before you start dating and looking around. Have fun in college, don’t take things too seriously. It is also everyone’s first time being away from home.
Freshman year was a time of new experiences and lessons learned. Put yourself out there and do all the things you always wanted to do in high school. I was lucky enough to meet my best friends freshman year and could not be more grateful for the experiences!