College is supposed to be one of the greatest times of your life. A time to grow and really learn about who you are as a person. What’s the best way to do that, you ask? Well, going into things with an open mind is a very good option! It allows you to embrace activities, people, and ways of life you may never have thought about before. Here are a few pointers!

1. You will meet so many interesting people, embrace the quirkiness!

Your first year of college is amazing. You're be immersed into a completely new environment with completely new people, and you'll continue to experience this throughout your entire college career. Some of those people may have personalities that you don’t think you’ll mesh with or you may simply think they aren’t friend material. But, I beg you- give them a chance! Be open to the differences you may have because it is those people who challenge you and will help you grow. Who knows? They may end up being one of your best friends!

2. You will have the opportunity to take classes in many different subjects, DO IT!

Sometimes your class schedule freshman year is solidified for you so you may not get the chance to pick different classes right away. However, as soon as that opportunity arises, I suggest you take it! College is a time to explore yourself and a good way to do that is to be open to taking classes about subjects you may not be completely comfortable or familiar with. Even if you’re skeptical about taking the class, it’s good to step outside of your comfort zone! Worse comes to worse, if you hate the first couple days, you can drop it and find another class you’re more comfortable with!

3. You’ll be living with people you may have never met before, remember everyone has their own habits!

Whether you have one roommate or three roommates, you are bound to get annoyed with at least one of their living habits. It may be that they leave their clothes around or maybe they have a vastly different sleep schedule than you. But take a deep breath and remember that they may not love some of the things you do too. So keep an open mind! Step into their shoes for a second and think, am I really going to let this be detrimental to our friendship? Is it really truly affecting my everyday life? Hopefully, the answer is no and you can learn to live with those little things that bug you. Maybe you can even try to talk to them about it and compromise because living with someone you don’t get along with is miserable! However, if it truly is an issue that you can’t get past, then it is usually possible to go through the process of switching roommates!

4. There will be so many extracurricular activities, pleasepleasePLEASE take advantage of them, even the weird ones!

Depending on the school you go to, there will be a wide range of activities you could take part in. It could be student government, greek life, an acapella group or even yoga! All extracurricular activities allow you to meet new people and get involved. It may give you a greater sense of community and you’ll be surprised at how much it can improve your academic success! Some activities may be a little out there but if you have any interest in them at all it’s always a good idea to give them a try! It can’t hurt!

So remember being that open-minded is essential and it can make or break your college career and future as a whole!