If you're an incoming freshman and you're reading this, you're probably nervous and excited about leaving your parents and finally being by yourself for probably the first time in your life. For me, I hated it and loved it at the same time. I would miss home-cooked meals and had to eat dining hall food, but on another hand, no parents, so it went both ways for me.
Anyways, Bubba is here to give you advice on your first day in college so you have the best welcoming experience possible. Plus mid-semester tips and tricks to help you be successful during your first year.
Find friend groups fast
Finding friends before you start class is a great idea. Find a group chat for people who live in your hall, or talk to people during welcome events that your campus holds. The reason why this is important is that these people are probably nervous and trying to meet new people as well, so it's kinda a win-win situation. Just make sure you choose the right people and don't hang out with the group that smokes weed in their room. First mistake I made on campus, but it's OK. I dropped them real quick and found some chill people.
One regret I do have is I don't feel like my friend group was big enough. I mostly hung out with people who lived in the same hall as me. Not saying that's a bad thing, but that's just how I feel. So I encourage you to find friends inside and outside your dorm. Which leads me to my next tip.
Get outside of your comfort zone
Don't be one of those kids who stays in their room all day doing homework and watching YouTube videos. I promise you that if you do this you will go crazy and most likely start talking to yourself. Enjoy the college experience and get involved with groups and organizations that you have an interest in. Do things that you normally wouldn't do in high school. Take chances and make mistakes. But DON'T do anything illegal and use my advice as your reason why you did it, cause I will do nothing but deny deny deny.
Manage your time
I swear to you that there will be days when you'll be swamped with assignments and you'll feel like you can't do them all. That's why it is very important that you have time management skills. Instead of going out to a party or playing video games, study for your test or do your homework. You can party any other day of the week. There's nothing worse than staying up until 3 a.m. doing homework for like three other classes.
Remember, mistakes happen
Now college isn't easy, even though I'm doing better than I did in high school. You're bound to do poorly on at least one assignment or test while you're here. I hope it doesn't happen, but it happens to the best of us. What's important is what you do after that mistake. You have to learn and grow from it and try to figure out what went wrong. There's no need to panic. I took biology and did horrible in it. I struggled to maintain a C in the class, but in the end, I was successful. I took so many L's in my first semester that I lost track. But I bounced back and treated it as a learning experience. I know that I probably have more L's waiting for me in the future, but I'm ready for them, and I'm gonna take them head-on, and you should do the same.
Know what your classes are about
Do not, and I repeat do not, take random classes just because they fill up a requirement plan or whatever. Research your class and your professor before you sign up. My first semester I made this mistake, and I suffered a great amount and lost a chunk of my sanity and had a mental breakdown. Please. If you care about your sanity, do it.
Be safe
Treating yourself right is 100 percent important. Don't go out and be stupid and hurt yourself or somebody else. Also, I don't think your parents would like it if they spent all this money on you to just go to college and to end up missing or hurt. Plus, I don't think that they would like to see a bunch of mini [Insert Last Name]s running around. If you don't get the joke, here's a simplified version of what I'm trying to say: Your parents didn't send you to college to have kids. So yeah. Just be safe.
Hopefully, I did some good here and prepared you for what's going to happen in the coming months. I have a lot to reflect on at the end of my freshman year, and I'm glad that it's over. I see it as a test run. Better to make mistakes now then later on in the coming years. That way I can be the legend that I'm slowly becoming. Those game reviews aren't gonna write themselves.