5 Steps To Survive Your Freshman Year of College | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

5 Steps To Survive Your Freshman Year of College

As told by someone who just finished their freshman year.

17
5 Steps To Survive Your Freshman Year of College
Pinterest

Disclaimer! Please take some of this advice with a grain of salt.

Step 1: Organization is key.

Make sure before you come to college you invest in an insane quantity of studying and organization materials, including at least 20 different colored pens, a half dozen notebooks (one for each class you’re taking), a full-size designer planner, several books of post it notes, and three different calendar white boards. After about three weeks of classes you’ll be down to one pencil that is running out of lead and two pens, one of which sputters when it writes, two notebooks because you realized only one of your freshman level classes actually requires you to take notes (the other one is for doodles in the other classes), and you’ve forgone your bulky planner for an app on your phone. The sticky notes will go unused and your white board calendar may be updated once a month. Your desk will become piled with books and random papers and you will cry.

Step 2: Go out of your way to make friends.

It may be tempting to sit in your dorm room and watch hours of YouTube while simultaneously ignoring all your responsibilities, but you can do the same thing by having friends and going on a three-hour Walmart shopping trip! Just make sure you don’t make friends with your prissy roommate’s friends because while they might say they like your more, they’ll tell your roommate everything you told them about her and eventually those “friends” will stop talking to you for no reason whatsoever! Instead, make friends with the people in your extracurriculars, like choir or Greek life, and still be emotionally distant and anxious that they don’t like you and talk behind your back. You will still spend hours by yourself in your roommate-less room, in the dark, and cry.

Step 3: Make sure you eat regularly.

Nothing in life is more important than taking care of yourself, physically and mentally. That means eating regularly and healthily. If you are going to be eating at a dining hall, make sure that you don’t load up on the unlimited fries and ice cream every day, and instead look toward the salad bar where you’ll slowly begin to hate the color green and everything related to leafy plants. Be careful not to take advantage of the school's snack bar! It’s very tempting to go and get chicken tenders and fries or a milkshake at 9:00 after laying in the dark for hours and missing the dining hall hours, but stay strong! It’s no fun running out of dining dollars and then having to use your own money for your fry addiction. Because after you get to your dorm and scarf down those chicken tenders, you’ll cry.

Step 4: Don’t be afraid to take classes about things you’re passionate about, even if it has nothing to do with your major!

Your brother is a college dropout, jobless, and in massive amounts of student debt, and you’re a reluctant business major with the expectations of your entire family on your shoulders, but that doesn’t mean you should focus on starting the dreaded classes for your major when you can take three different art classes! Just make sure you’re ready for when your relatives eventually grill you and ask why you're wasting your time in college on a class that only focuses on Shakespearean tragedies. The important thing is that you’re engaged in a class you’re passionate about. Save the boring, excruciatingly difficult classes for when you’re an upperclassman and genuinely dead on the inside, spending every break between classes crying.

And finally, the most important step…

Step 5: Remember that everyone makes mistakes and it’s okay to fall off the wagon.

It’s okay to mess up your first year of college. Most students haven’t been prepared for the workload and the sudden independence that being a college freshman entails. The most you can do is try your hardest and enjoy yourself. There is a balance between social life and academia, and sometimes it might tip one way or the other. You just have to keep picking yourself up when you fall down, and try not to beat yourself up. Humans make mistakes. College students make even more mistakes. College freshman make the most mistakes. You can’t learn if you don’t make those important mistakes. So I implore you to learn. Learn how to take care of yourself. Learn where your limits are. Learn what kind of people you need in your life, and when to say enough is enough in certain situations. And most importantly, learn that it’s okay to cry once in a while.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Featured

15 Mind-Bending Riddles

Hopefully they will make you laugh.

178213
 Ilistrated image of the planet and images of questions
StableDiffusion

I've been super busy lately with school work, studying, etc. Besides the fact that I do nothing but AP chemistry and AP economics, I constantly think of stupid questions that are almost impossible to answer. So, maybe you could answer them for me, and if not then we can both wonder what the answers to these 15 questions could be.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Most Epic Aurora Borealis Photos: October 2024

As if May wasn't enough, a truly spectacular Northern Lights show lit up the sky on Oct. 10, 2024

5393
stunning aurora borealis display over a forest of trees and lake
StableDiffusion

From sea to shining sea, the United States was uniquely positioned for an incredible Aurora Borealis display on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, going into Friday, Oct. 11.

It was the second time this year after an historic geomagnetic storm in May 2024. Those Northern Lights were visible in Europe and North America, just like this latest rendition.

Keep Reading...Show less
 silhouette of a woman on the beach at sunrise
StableDiffusion

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of suicide/suicidal thoughts.

When you are feeling down, please know that there are many reasons to keep living.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

Power of Love Letters

I don't think I say it enough...

451277
Illistrated image of a letter with 2 red hearts
StableDiffusion

To My Loving Boyfriend,

  • Thank you for all that you do for me
  • Thank you for working through disagreements with me
  • Thank you for always supporting me
  • I appreciate you more than words can express
  • You have helped me grow and become a better person
  • I can't wait to see where life takes us next
  • I promise to cherish every moment with you
  • Thank you for being my best friend and confidante
  • I love you and everything you do

To start off, here's something I don't say nearly enough: thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You do so much for me that I can't even put into words how much I appreciate everything you do - and have done - for me over the course of our relationship so far. While every couple has their fair share of tiffs and disagreements, thank you for getting through all of them with me and making us a better couple at the other end. With any argument, we don't just throw in the towel and say we're done, but we work towards a solution that puts us in a greater place each day. Thank you for always working with me and never giving up on us.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

11 Signs You Grew Up In Hauppauge, NY

Because no one ever really leaves.

22640
Map of Hauppauge, New York
Google

Ah, yes, good old Hauppauge. We are that town in the dead center of Long Island that barely anyone knows how to pronounce unless they're from the town itself or live in a nearby area. Hauppauge is home to people of all kinds. We always have new families joining the community but honestly, the majority of the town is filled with people who never leave (high school alumni) and elders who have raised their kids here. Around the town, there are some just some landmarks and places that only the people of Hauppauge will ever understand the importance or even the annoyance of.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments