Dear Incoming Freshmen Girls,
Hey girls welcome to college! I hope that move in went well and that you’re enjoying the first few minutes of freedom away from your parents. I admit, I cried a little, but once you get over that you’ll feel right at home here. College is such a fun and memorable time in your life. I’m sure all of you are just chomping at the bit to hit your first few parties and meet older college guys. Before you get ahead of yourselves, I’d sit down and take my advice for how to go about the first few weeks of school.
1. Be outgoing! That would be my biggest piece of advice for you. This is a big school and many of you don’t know that many people coming in to it. Talk to the strangers on the elevator in your dorm, knock on a few doors in your hallway, go down a few floors and make some guy friends! No one is going to think you’re weird, if anything they’ll be relieved that they’ve met someone too. Try to do the same thing in class. You’ll have lots of other freshmen in your lower levels so take advantage of that. If you get lost, ask someone for help, the older kids don’t bite. I still get lost as a senior!
2. Don’t fall behind! The first few weeks of classes are the easiest, don’t skip reading chapters or decide to skip a class. You’ll get behind on your reading really fast and why would you waste a skip now?! It’s much easier to maintain a good grade if you start doing well early on. If you push an assignment back, it will continue to get pushed aside. Believe it or not, the first exam or paper will approach so fast you might be caught off guard. Plus, everyone, no matter how smart has the odds against them for bombing their first college exam, so might as well stay as prepared as possible. Fail the first semester and you might not get to see a second if your parents have anything to say about it.
3. Go easy on the alcohol. I’m not going to tell you not to drink, because that would be pointless. I’m just going to tell you maybe the first few weeks of school isn’t the time to be getting so wasted you pass out drunk in a basement or black out harder then ever before. You barely know anyone you’re going out with at this point, and you don’t know the campus very well either, so don’t be an idiot. Have fun and go nuts, but also be smart. Your reputation is brand new right now, you don’t want to do something you’ll regret because you were so drunk on the first weekend of college and flashed a whole fraternity party.
4. Keep it in your pants. The first few weeks is not the most ideal time to go home with guys for a one night stand or make out with your roommate cause some football player dared you to. Like I said before, you’ve got a fresh new reputation and it will follow you from the moment you step on campus. Massive amounts of drunken hookups the first weekend out will lead to an awkward rest of the year.
5. Be a good roommate. This is such a simple thing to do. It takes way less effort to be nice to someone than it does to be mean to someone. Some rooming situations suck, I get that. No matter if your roommate is an alien, or her skin is purple, or she snuck in some weird frog thing as a pet, you are living with this person for the year. So include them, go to the dining hall together, make friends together. It will be a much easier year for you if you are on good terms with your roommate so don’t mess it up as soon as you arrive by acting like you’re too cool for them once you make some friends.
6. Have fun! College is over way to fast so live it up but don’t be a moron. Take lots of pictures and make new friends. Go out and make memories that you laugh about even as a senior. You don’t know anyone, there’s no drama or awkward people from your past, so cherish those precious moments of utopia that you believe campus to be when you arrive. Soon, you’ll have girls who give you glares because of some fight you got in over a pair of jeans or that guy you regret awkwardly saying hey to you when you walk by in the library (unless you follow my rules of course!), but for now, you’re golden!
It’s hard to give advice to you guys because it’s easier to learn from your mistakes in some situations. At least you have someone telling you what not to do right? I hope you’ll be able to remember this letter at a drunken party and not to explore the ever-awkward one night stand that night. The last thing you want to do is get the title of “that girl” or even worse an embarrassing nickname among your Christensen floor mates. College is a really big place, but almost always you’ll find it’s not big enough.
Good luck! xoxo
A wise senior girl