It’s really easy to get caught up in the swing of things and forget what really matters. Whether it’s Thursday’s Gen Chem exam or your roommate’s obnoxious sleeping habits that’s stressing you out, there are some things that you should always remind yourself. In the moment there seems like the world is going to explode or that the only solution is a roommate change, but if you step back look at it from the outside it’s not as crazy as you think.
It really, really doesn’t matter as much as you think. I know it’s really hard to get hung up on the details, but keep some perspective. That tiny mistake you made on an essay or your Econ test grade that was 4 points lower than what you wanted won’t have as much of an impact on your academic career as you think. It probably won’t even drop your overall grade more than a couple of decimal points.
Friends are important, but friends are not forever. I hope you’ve heard this a thousand times, but if you haven’t here it is: the friends you make freshman year are most likely not going to be the friends you have sophomore, junior, or senior year. A lot of times, first semester freshman year friendships are based on convenience — the house you live in, the classes you take, etc.– but once that changes a lot of those friendships will dissolve. That’s okay! I still have a lot of great friends from my freshman year, but there’s also a lot of people that I hung out with everyday as a freshman and barely talked to now that the summer’s over.
We’ve all made bad choices. For some, college can be considered just a collection of ill-fated bad decisions. Regardless of how often you make bad choices, you’ve made one at least once since you’ve been here. And if we’re being honest, it’s probably way more than one. But that’s the beauty of it. Since we’ve all made our fair share of poor decisions, we’re probably not going to be judging you for yours. In fact, we probably don’t even remember that ridiculous thing you did at Sig Nu last Thursday or when you tripped and fell on your face at Pike.
When in doubt, ask for help. I can count at least a dozen times that I’ve felt helpless since coming to Vanderbilt. It could be while trying to figure out an equation in Calculus or when there was a toxic member within my friend group. But even though I felt helpless in all of those situations, in reality I wasn’t. There are more than enough resources at Vanderbilt to help you in your time of need. In extreme cases you can always go to the PCC/Student Well-Being Center or find safe spaces in the K.C. Potter Center and BCC. And for day to day issues your RA, Professors, and TAs are a resource during open door/office hours for help.