I get it. We’ve all felt the same way. Unpacking the last of your items into your new, unfamiliar dorm, taking one look around, and realizing that this is the place you will be spending your next four years. I remember every emotion I was feeling. Nervous, scared, afraid to be apart from my family and friends. For the past 18 years of my life, I was used to the familiar, the ordinary. Now, taking one look around this two by two dorm, I did not know what I was getting myself into. As I looked out of my dorm window and watched my mother drive away, I realized that this was it. This was the start of a new chapter of my life, the start of an amazing journey.

As the new school year is approaching and thousands of new students will be arriving at the University at Albany, I can’t help but reflect back on my past few years here, and my experiences being a student at UAlbany. Looking back on my last three years here, if I knew what I know now, I would have done things completely different. Here are a few tips to incoming freshman students:

1. Join a club:

You would be surprised how many positive elements come out of joining a club. Joining a club presents many opportunities to learn more about yourself and your strengths. Alongside this, joining a club may give you network opportunities. Meeting new students, making connections, and building relationships will all help down the line when you’re looking for a job. Besides this fact, it’s fun! Most schools have many clubs and organizations to offer and they are made to be joined! Find a new interest, explore a current passion, or even go out there and join something different from what you normally would, you won’t regret it.

2. Get to know your professors:

Being in a school with almost 20,000 students, it is hard to form close relationships with your professors. Many classes you take as a freshman student are in the lecture hall and have hundreds of students in them, so my advice is get to know your professors. Don’t be afraid. They will be happier that you went out of your way to induce yourself than if you hadn’t at all. If you don’t understand something, go to office hours, that’s what they are there for. I didn’t learn until I was a Junior in college how useful these hours would be. Go if you don’t understand something, if you need help with a question on your homework, or anything at all. That’s what they are there for.

3. Don't go crazy with your unlimited meal plan:

Although you should take advantage of your unlimited meal plan, do not go crazy: you WILL gain the freshman fifteen. Even though it may be tempting to resist the endless pizza and pasta that the dining halls have to offer, you may want to take it slow. Most incoming freshman are overwhelmed that they can eat whenever they want, however many times a day they want. Be aware of what you are putting into your body, and how much of it you are consuming, because it WILL catch up to you, even if it doesn’t your first year.

4. Do something crazy:

Although school is extremely important, don’t spend all of your time studying. Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and take everything in once in awhile, it will move right past you. So go out on a Tuesday night when you have class the next day, have that extra slice of pizza you know you shouldn’t. You need to remember that you are here for four years. It may seem like a lifetime at first, but it’s four years of your whole life. Four years to be irresponsible, selfless, and easy going.

5. Keep an open mind:

It is extremely important to keep an open mind upon entering college. Don’t be to quick to judge. Without having an open mind, i wouldn’t have met half the people I did in college. Everyone is scared and everyone is nervous. Regardless of how they come off, everyone is in the same position, so talk to the girl who loves math even if you don’t. Talk to the guy who is into video games even if you’re not. College is about branching out and experiencing new things. My advice is not to be trapped in a bubble. There’s a whole world out there for you to see and an abundance of new people for you to meet, so don’t stick to the same ordinary crowds. You’d be surprised who you may end up meeting.