1. Set a study time and place.
College is not like high school, where the questions on a test happen to be the same questions from the study guide that your teacher gave you a week before. For each hour that you are in class, you should be studying at least two or three hours outside of class. Whether it is your dorm study lounge, the library, or the quad, find a place that is not too noisy or distracting. It helps to set aside a studying time each day or week that focuses on a particular subject. Personally, I like studying near the lake that is in between my dorm building and the building where my English class is. There are a couple of tables and the sound of water and the ducks swimming give me a peace of mind. I would not recommend studying only in your dorm room. There are a lot of distractions like falling asleep on your bed or somehow ending up on Netflix watching "Orange Is the New Black." My roommates like keeping our door open a lot, so the noises from the hallway also do not help if you want to concentrate hard. You do not need to worry about someone blasting music or talking loudly on the phone at the library or writing center, just saying.
2. Make a couple friends.
Meeting new people can be a scary, intimidating idea to some people, but remember that every freshman is in the same boat. The majority of us have moved to a new city to go to school, away from our family and close friends at home. A simple "hey" may turn into a long conversation bonding over your favorite "Grey's Anatomy" character or sports team. The worst thing that can happen from approaching someone is that they say they are busy. It does not hurt to try and getting to know people will also help with homesickness later on. You do not need to have main group of friends or anything, but at least start talking to a few people. If you are lucky, you will be able to eventually have a family at college away from the family at home and will get the best of both worlds.
3. Establish a routine.
I do not mean you need to have a time and alarm set every time you drink a glass of water or eat a snack, but it would help if you had some sort of schedule in your life. For example, every student has a different schedule each day you may need to eat meals at a different time on alternating days. For me, I make sure I eat somewhere from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch. My advice is to set a day for laundry, cleaning and hanging out. It does not have to be weekly; I do my laundry twice a month on Sunday nights and clean on alternating Saturdays. The basic things that should be in your routine are a time to wake up by and a time to go to bed by.
4. Walk around campus.
My biggest regret is not exploring my university's campus enough. After a few weeks of going to your classes enough to know not to look at your online weekly schedule, you find that you have a few hours in between classes and meals to spare. Take advantage of this time and explore as much of campus as you can. If I did more of this the first month, I would not be getting confused where I am sometimes. Doing so can help you find shortcuts from one class to the next and can make you feel more comfortable with your surroundings.
5. Go to events.
Whether it is the club fair, student government BBQ, or Greek fundraiser, go to it. Events are held so that people can learn about what organizations are out there and give people the opportunity to mingle with other students as well. Most of them are free and if they do charge money, it is not too hard to afford. They also offer free food and drinks most of the time. Events are a great way to make connections that may help down the line. You can go to them with a few friends and make a plan out of it. Even if you are not too interested in them, you should give them the benefit of the doubt and at least check it out for 15 minutes. You never know, it may be really fun and teach you something that interests you.
