I think it is safe to say that college is a huge step up for people in terms of their responsibility and determination leading to their success. Beginning my freshman year I didn’t know how to time manage properly, I was homesick and the list could go on. Now that I am onto my sophomore year I can notice all the things that I have improved upon and didn’t have to adjust to this time around. Here is a list of the five most significant skills I built my freshman year, that I feel are essential to college success:
Time management
As a student athlete attending college full time, time management is going to have to be your best friend, even if you don’t want it to be. Almost all of your time between classes has to be used toward something productive. Even though it may seem like the better option is to go back to your room and take a nap, it’s not going to help you start the paper due in a week. Also, just because I say “productive” doesn’t mean it has to always be work, go relax and refresh your brain. Take breaks where needed and you’ll utilize your time much more effectively.
Being homesick is temporary
I was so incredibly homesick my first month at school. It became all I thought about and I would go home as often as I could. But I now realize that it may have been easier to adjust had I not continuously left campus. The only way to get used to it is to stay here and make friends and familiarize yourself with the environment around you. Once that happens, you won’t be homesick… although I cant promise you won’t miss your pets. After all your parents are only a FaceTime away (and pets), plus home doesn’t seem to ever change that much while i’m gone anyway.
Your friends become your family
I’ve had days and even weeks where if I didn’t have the support from my friends, I don’t think I would have made it. Sometimes just ranting to a friend about your terrible day, an assignment or something someone did can make your life seem so much better after. If I didn’t have that opportunity, Id be a mess.
Make time to have fun
This one is pretty self explanatory and tags along with time management pretty well. Get everything you need to do done, then go enjoy yourself. Go have ice cream with your friends, go to the movies, or just relax in your dorm with the free time you create yourself. We are all humans that need some down time to refresh our minds
Break your work into chunks
This past week when listening to each syllabus be covered, I realized how easy it is to feel overwhelmed with all the work that needs to be done over the semester. So I make it a rule for myself that when I am feeling overwhelmed, to take a step back and prioritize what needs to be done. Then after that, do one thing at a time. It makes everything seem so much easier to handle.
All in all there is always something new to learn in college, even outside the classroom. If you take it day by day and lesson by lesson it will all be okay and keeping these three lessons I learned in mind it can make it all so much easier.