A Few Things to Consider for Incoming College Students

College is amazing. In fact, I like it so much that I will be entering the fifth year of my undergraduate degree this fall. And with four years already under my belt, here are some things to consider before you or someone you know enters the collegiate world.

College is hard. I have taken classes that have made me want to pull my hair out in frustration (thank you college calculus and chemistry). On the other hand, most schools provide a wonderful support network, especially for freshman students, and you will be surrounded with people having the same issues on homework. Don’t worry if you don’t get it or you don’t understand it, just ask your professor or TA for help. That’s what they are there for.

Once the homework is finally done for the night, the fun starts, right? Well, now that you’re in college, you have a lot of choices of what you can do. Head over to the campus quad and check out some live music, watch a movie with some friends, take that pretty girl from your history class on a date…the options are truly endless! Some of the best friends you will ever have are the ones you will meet over the next four years, so get out of your comfort zone and be active on campus. You’ll have a lot more fun, and will get a lot more out of college by doing so. Just don’t forget to do your homework first!

Speaking of going out and meeting friends, I know that this is a lot easier for some than it is for others. I was lucky enough to find a group of friends that liked Breaking Bad, old Nintendo games, and terrible movies, and I was able to bond with them that way. Even though I haven’t attended that school since 2014, I am still very close with many of them! Be yourself, and let others know what you are interested in. Don’t worry, eventually you will find a group of people with similar interests as you.

On a different note, DO NOT LIVE WITH SOMEONE YOU WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH!!! This is so so so so important. In fact, important enough that I put it in all capital letters and I’m still rambling on about it. Rooming with someone you don’t know puts you in a position to make your first friend in college. Add that to your best friend’s roommate, and now you have a group of four to hang out with. It might provide a temporary comfort blanket, but when you realize that your friend isn’t as clean and tidy as you, things can go downhill pretty fast.

I know that this is a shotgun blast of information delivered in a very short time, but if I gave all of my advice here, it would be the size of a small book. Because of this, I will make one final point, and that is to have fun, and learn everything you can. It will be over before you know it, so don’t let opportunities pass you by because you think you can just do them later. Who knows, you just might like it enough to stick around for a fifth year.