The first year of college isn't easy. Moving away from home for the first time, living with a stranger, and adjusting to the freedom and subsequent responsibilities of college life is more than overwhelming. The day you move into college is an absolute whirlwind, and it is one of those rare moments in life that can be defined as the first day of the rest of your life, along with perhaps beginning your first real job following graduation, or the day you buy your own home. Going off to college is a huge milestone that comes with its fair share of challenges. Here are ten things I wish I had known going into it all.
1. It’s better to take morning classes than late afternoon/evening classes.
I am not a morning person...at all. Getting up early for class is tough, especially in college. You don’t have your mom banging down your door if you sleep through your alarm. It is up to you to get to class on time and it isn’t always easy first thing in the morning.
However, it’s worth it. Even though it might be hard to get up in the morning, your body will grow accustomed to it and you will likely be done with classes by early afternoon if you schedule them early (as I suggest). This leaves your entire afternoon and night free to catch up on homework, study, take a shower, do laundry, eat, go to the library, and whatever else you may have to get done.
When at college, I am pretty tired by 4 or 5 p.m., so taking classes at this time was a huge mistake that I will never make again. Plus, once you’re already back in your dorm, you won’t want to go out again to go back to class. It’s surprisingly hard to do.
2. The Freshman 15 is NOT a myth.
My college’s food, catered by Sodexo, isn’t the best, so a lot of the time when I went to the dining hall for meals, I didn’t eat enough. Sometimes dinner consisted of some vegetables, cereal, and maybe a pudding. Rarely did I leave the dining hall feeling satisfied and full. To make up for my ever-present hunger, I began eating a lot of Domino’s (they deliver right to the dorm) and other snacks in my room, such as Cheez-Its, chocolate, and other unhealthy snacks. I ate so much junk food trying to satisfy my hunger that I ended up gaining the Freshman 15, as many college freshmen do. Beware. Eat healthy snacks. Fill up as much as you can in the dining hall. Snack as little as possible.
3. Things change so, so much.
I cannot stress this enough. Throughout my freshman year of college, it seemed as though my life completely changed every two weeks: who I was friends with, who I was eating meals with, etc. Nothing stayed the same for more than a week or two.
Everything is changing all the time. You switch friend groups, meal times, studying habits, cleaning habits, and maybe even switch classes or dorm rooms. Things change so much over the course of freshman year that at its conclusion, you will look back and wonder how you ever lived the way you did when you first began.
4. Go out.
I have always been a homebody. I am happy in my bed with a book. I didn’t go out very much freshman year. When most of us move away to college, we are in a completely different environment than at home, whether it be on the other side of the state, or in another state and city entirely, so my advice is to go out and explore. Get to know your college campus, the town or city it's in, get to know the neighborhoods and where the stores and restaurants are. Become familiar with your surroundings.
And go out on campus too. Go to other dorms, meet new people, make new friends, and go out to campus events. It’s as simple as this: Go out. Go out. Go out. DO stuff. Make the most of your college experience, because before you know it, it’s going to be over.
5. Take care of yourself.
No, but seriously. By take care of yourself, I mean drink enough water, take your vitamins, eat healthy and exercise. It is so easy to get caught up in the chaos of college and adjusting to the lifestyle and classes that you forget to take the time to truly take care of yourself.
Don’t compromise your mental health either. Take advantage of the health services, both physical and emotional, on campus. If you feel like you’re catching a cold, or you’re feeling particularly down in the dumps or overwhelmed by college life, seek help. Campus resources are invaluable. Use them to help you take care of yourself. That is what they are there for. And go to the campus gym if you can! Walk. Jog. Run. Do yoga. Do whatever it is that makes you feel good.
6. Never let your guard down.
We always hear the same safety warnings about college: never walk alone, never leave your drink unattended, etc. Although I was not personally a victim of any sort of violence at my college, it does happen - at my college and every college. If you are, for example, studying at the library at night, call a friend or campus security to walk you back to your dorm. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
If you see someone walking on campus who seems suspicious to you, walk the other way. Our gut instincts tend to be right. Always keep your guard up and prioritize your own safety over that nagging feeling of, "I'm being ridiculously paranoid, knock it off."
If you are in an uncomfortable situation of any kind, get out. Again: it’s better to be safe than sorry. Taking safety precautions is better than being hurt, robbed, assaulted, or something else. Look out for yourself and look out for your friends. Stay safe, especially at night and on the weekends.
7. It’s completely normal to feel homesick.
It may not hit you right away. I didn’t feel homesick until I was already at college for a month. I was so busy adjusting to the college life and spending time with my new friends that I didn’t have the time to think about home. But when I got settled in and used to the lifestyle, I started to feel very homesick. It’s okay to feel this way, even if you do feel it as early as move-in day.
When you live in one place with your family for the first 18 years of your life, it isn’t “normal” for your body or mind to just pick up and move away to a different place, living with different people. Therefore, it is completely normal to feel homesick. Although not everyone may admit it, everyone feels homesick at least once in a while. Try not to be sad, though; embrace the feeling. You will be home before you know it, and then you’ll be dying to go back to school!
8. Talk to everyone.
You don’t have to be friends with everyone you meet at college. But especially when you first move in, don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation with anyone. Everyone since the incoming freshman class is in the same boat as you and everyone is anxious to get to know each other and make friends. College is different than the real world; I can 99 percent assure you that if you go up to a fellow student and introduce yourself, they’re not going to give you a dirty look or walk away like a stranger in the grocery store might. Don’t hesitate to approach someone, introduce yourself, shake their hand, ask them what their name is, where they’re from, etc.
Even when standing in line in the dining hall, don’t be afraid to start talking to the person next to you. You can’t make friends without talking! So open up, leap out of your comfort zone, and be a social butterfly, whether you were a social butterfly in high school or not. Going to college is a chance to be the person you’ve always wanted to be. Be friendly with everyone you see. It's how you foster a campus community of kindness.
9. It’s okay to not like (some of) your professors.
Although the vast majority of college professors, at least in my experience, are amazing people, instructors and connections to the professional world who are there to help you, it’s not required that you like every professor you have in college. As long as you respect all of your professors, it’s okay to not like one here or there for one reason or another. Every college professor has a different teaching style; some you are going to love, others you are going to hate. And that’s okay.
Just because they are teaching at the college level and you are paying to be in their class doesn’t mean you have to be their biggest fan. You can agree to disagree with a professor’s teaching style or system of grading. That’s what college is all about: learning to question what we are told.
10. College really isn’t as hard as it seems.
Of course we see many posts on social media about the extreme stress college students face: financially, socially, academically, etc. But freshman year, you shouldn’t worry too much. You will find that college isn’t as hard as it may have seemed. Yes, it’s difficult, and yes, it’s harder than high school, but you will come to really enjoy it, and it's a lot better than high school.
The general courses everyone takes freshman year won’t be that bad, I promise. And even if you do stress yourself out to the point of considering dropping out, trust me, it won’t be the first time it crosses your mind! Here’s the bright side and the dark side: it gets worse! So enjoy every minute of it, because it will be over before you know it.
