Well what do you know, another article about freshman in college. Honestly, I have never read one titled so, but here goes nothing.
Things I wish I knew freshman year of college? There are a lot of things that I wish I knew, I have learned, and have changed me.
Freshman year will only be as great as you make it.
Don't be afraid to try.
Yeah I get it; you are a new freshman going to a school that you are not familiar with. You feel like the underdog of high school again. So what? College is so different than high school. Don't be afraid to get involved, do new things, meet more people... Don't be afraid of failure. If you fail, who cares?
Make friends.
Making friends is essential to living a happy life at college. Believe me, I know. This is coming from a girl who went to college for a year and made only 1 friend the whole time. There is almost nothing worse than living the lonely college student life. That's a recipe for home-sickness in the making. So be outgoing even when you are shy. Smile, laugh, and be kind to people- I promise they will treat you the same way back. Don't be afraid to talk to the person sitting next to you in class; I guarantee they are in the same boat you are.
It's okay for freshman year to change you.
I came into college with the mindset of "the person I am now is the person I will be when I leave college". If that's you, I'm sorry but that's not the case. Freshman year will change you; and hopefully for the better. It's okay to change. Living on your own, making your own decisions, starting a new chapter of life- it's a lot of growing up. It's a lot of changing. Change is okay, change is a good thing.
Don't loose what's important to you.
For example, if you play music, play a sport, have a hobby you used to do in high school regularly- don't loose that. Make time for it. Trust me, you will be thankful that you kept that up in the end.
Along the lines of importance, don't loose sight of your relationships. Keep up with your old high school friends and mentors. Call your mom every once in a while. Just because you all have different lives doesn't mean you should be out of it completely.
Do your best.
I have honestly never had as many failing grades before. I'm sorry, but straight A students- this is the end of that streak for you. Don't beat yourself up over a couple failing grades or two, but also do your best. If you do your best, and you still get a failing grade, there's not much more that you can do. So this year, do your best. Whether that be in school, friends, family, etc...
You now have the freedom to be who you want to be.
You see, in high school you had to be the same person. Whether that be introverted, extroverted, mean, nice, etc. You had to stay that person because all of your friend knew who you were. College is a chance to be who you want to be; to act how you want. So take advantage of that.
Like I said before, college is what you make of it.
So be kind, be smart, be fun, be joyful, be outgoing.
And always be inspiring.
