As I'm moving back into my dorm room for my second semester at college, I can't help but think of all the wonderful and not-so-wonderful things that happened last semester. My first semester was a bumpy ride! I had a hard time adjusting to being away from home, I wasn't so hot at making new friends, I struggled so hard to get a good night's rest, and I definitely gained the freshmen fifteen. But besides all the negative, I did some things really well. I was able to maintain a good grade point average, I joined multiple clubs and activities, I made a few life long friends, and I found out that my major was definitely the right fit for me! There isn't a thing that I would do differently if I had a chance to go back, but there are quite a few things that I want to change as I head into my second semester of college.
1. Getting a Good Night's Rest
If we are being honest with one another, I'm pretty sure that the Sand Man has a personal vendetta against me. I did not sleep well my first semester of college whatsoever. I was constantly running on three or four hours of sleep and multiple cups of coffee. People would always come up to me and say, "I don't know how you do it!" Well listen -- I don't know how I did that either. I was miserable. This is a habit that can not, and I repeat can not, continue as I start my second semester at college. Long story short, I had a hard time getting into my classes, and my new schedule absolutely sucks. I have classes at eight in the morning EVERYDAY. Terrible, I know. So, this semester I am gonna make it my priority to get in bed and get a good nights rest.
2. Be Healthy
Gaining weight your first year of college is so normal, but being the person gaining the weight, I can tell you that I do not feel normal whatsoever. I feel so uncomfortable with myself and I don't even know how this happened so quickly. As embarrassing as this is, I gained more weight in the past four months than I have the past year. I'm not by any means saying that weight gain is bad thing, but for me personally, it's just something I want to maintain. How am I gonna be healthy you ask? Sure as hell not by eating a salad everyday. I love food -- end of story. I'm going to make it an priority to go to the gym at least four times a week and the late night snacking is going to be minimized. We'll see how this one goes.
3. Branch Out More
I am a very outgoing person. I am loud, sort of obnoxious, and always finding ways to talk someone's ear off. As silly as this sounds though, I don't tend to branch out. I always find myself flocking to the comfort zone where I feel as if people will accept me. This first semester at college I made some amazing friends, but I don't want these to be the only people I surround myself with for the next few years. I would like to challenge myself to meet more people in my classes instead of avoiding eye-contact and being awkward.
4. Clean, Clean, Clean!
Being messy in a room that you share to yourself is one thing, but being messy in a room that you share with another human being is a completely different story. Adjusting to the demands of college was hard enough, but also balancing a clean room, and doing laundry? It was terrible. I need to make a habit of putting away my clothes right when I'm done washing them. I also need to stop throwing things on my ground and saying "Oh, I'll get that later." No you won't Hanna, no you won't.
5. Reach Out to my Professors
The one piece of advice that I received from everyone as I was going to college was to never hesitate to reach out to my professors. I was so scared and intimidated by my professors in the first semester that I never really took the time to build a relationship with them. I would hear my fellow freshmen friends talk about how close they were with their professors and that alone made me realize that I want that personal relationship to exist. I want to visit my professors office hours at least twice during the semester, and I don't want to hesitate to shoot them a "I-am-so-confused-what-even-is-this-assignment" email.
Even though this will be my second semester at college, and I will be slightly more seasoned, I still accept the fact that I am a freshmen. I don't say this in a way to denote a negative meaning, I just mean that I'm still new at this entire experience. There's going to be things that I do wrong, and there's going to be things that I do that really work for me. It's all a learning experience and at the end of the day if I'm able to recognize where I have room for improvement, that's all I could ask for.
