When you are a high school student, you don’t have much to worry about. You don’t have to worry about living alone, college debt or taking care of your own body. You also are with your family almost all the time. Your family accepts you for who you are, and you don't really need to mold yourself to be something you're not when living at home.
In college, everything changes. Your entire lifestyle changes and you have to start making many life decisions by yourself. As a first-year student, I struggled to share space with my roommate, and keeping my side neat and organized was tough.
I also struggled with making friends. Before moving away to college, I was nervous about how to fit in and be accepted by people around me. But I learned that you don’t have to change who you are to make friends or fit in. Friends who accept you for you are the kinds of friends you want to have in college.
At orientation, it was extremely helpful to find people who had common interests as I did. Making connections with people at orientation is a great way to meet friends, and to this day I still have friends that I met at orientation. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or put yourself out there, because you never know who you'll meet or what you'll find.
Even if you don't think you'll find something that fits your style, there's definitely something for everyone. Whether it's a sporting event or a retreat, there's really something for everyone at school.
Looking at what your school offers will help you to make a wise and educated decision on what you might want to pursue throughout your four years in college. They'll go by pretty fast, so making the most of them and surrounding yourself with people that truly matter is important.
No matter who you are or where you'll end up, as hard as the college transition usually is, having people by your side that help you make the most of it is beyond rewarding. College is supposed to be the best four years of your life, so establishing those lifelong friendships and maintaining them through time is part of what college is all about.
