Tips For Your Freshman Year Of College

Hey, beautiful!

Today’s blog post is a tad bit late in the season, since pretty much everyone and their mother has already gone back to school. But anywho, I wanted to make this post anyway to help anyone who might be feeling a bit down or is still nervous about their Freshman year of college.

Today we’ll be talking about college, more specifically about Freshman year of college. I’ll be giving you some tips and tricks I picked up on and learned on my first year of college, now that I’m in my second year.

Freshman year of college is a new and nerve-wracking chapter in everyone’s life, but also a chapter everyone experiences differently. For most people, like it was for me, it’s something exciting and fun since you get kind of a fresh start, you meet new people, it’s a completely different environment from high school and you get to experience new things overall, whether you’re going to college in your home state or out of state.

And while it’s really fun to meet new people and have a social life, you’re really in college to study and get an education, so it’s really important to know how to balance both your studies and your social life…

All of these tips come from my experience and perspective during my first year of college. To give you an idea of what I experienced: I’m going to college in my home state, I’m not staying in the campus/dorms and I’m attending the same college as 3 of my best friends from high school…  Now we can get started!

Tips for studying

*Have study habits: having these will help you big time in college in general, not just in your Freshman year. Study habits consist on being disciplined and getting yourself to do whatever work needs to be done, organizing yourself (having a planner with dates really helps!) and your time (you need to be able to know when it’s time to have fun and when it’s time to get work done; priorities, people!), knowing where and how you can concentrate your best when you need to do so, and knowing if you’re better off getting work done by yourself or with a study group.

*Know your professors and your classes: get the hang of these in the first two weeks of class. Once you get the feel for what is required for each class you’re taking and how the professor is and likes to go about their classes, you’ll have a big part of your first year covered!

*Always go to class: this one is very important, as you never know if the professor will drop a surprise quiz or a crucial test hint. Plus, it’s always better when you get to understand whatever subject it is by attending the class instead of by looking through a classmate’s notes. However, if for some reason you had to miss a class, be sure to get someone to hand you their notes so you have everything covered for when the test comes.

*Write everything down: every little thing your professor says during class, as silly as it may sound in the moment, write it down! These little, extra notes will make all of the difference when studying to ace a test.

*Ask for help if you need it: this one tip is so important and I cannot stress it enough! Don’t be afraid to ask for help, it won’t make you any less smart or capable. Whether it’s a friend you’re asking for help, a classmate, your professor or a tutor, everyone is always down to help with whatever you need. Also, don’t be ashamed to raise your hand during class and ask if there was something you didn’t quite get when the professor first explained it.

*Don’t stress out: while it is true that in college you have a lot more work to do than in high school, you also have much more free time to do it.

Tips for your social life

*Be yourself: this one tip (as cliché as it may sound) is, I think, the most important one and the one everything else will be base on. Don’t be afraid to be yourself and remember to always stay true to who you really are.

*Be open-minded: don’t be afraid to try new things and to approach people you wouldn’t normally approach. At college you’ll find all different types of people and that’s why it’s such an amazing place full of diversity.

*Remember you’re not the only Freshman there: this is something I had to remind myself all throughout the first week during my Freshman year. As much as you are scared, nervous and excited for this new experience, there are TONS of other people going through the same thing as you and having the same emotions you’re having. This is why engaging with your classmates is usually pretty easy to do that first week.

*Don’t stress out over making friends: you’ll usually make a few friends during your first week of college, and it’ll come naturally so there’s no need to stress over this. As the weeks go by, you’ll meet new people just by knowing who shares similar interests to yours and by engaging with your classmates. Also, if you’re attending the same college as some of your high school friends, meeting their new college friends is a great way of getting to know more people (this is actually how I made a lot of my friends!).

*Don’t lose touch with your high school friends: even though you’re going to meet new people (and as you definitely should) that you’ll become close with once you go into college, your high school friends are the ones who really, truly know you and love you. Whether you are going to different schools or even the same one, keeping in touch with your high school friends and not letting those important relationships fade is something you’ll be thankful for for the rest of your college experience and life in general.

*Break the bubble: don’t be afraid to meet students from other schools when you’re out with your friends, this will only widen the group of people you know and it’ll make your experience that much more pleasant.

*Be wise with your money: this is something to keep in mind when you’re on campus. I found it very easy to spend unnecessary amounts of money in food the first few weeks, and even months, just because I was at the food court with friends with nothing else better to do while I waited in between classes… Then I learned not to spend my money like that. Instead, save that money for when you’re out with your friends or to buy yourself something nice whenever you feel like it.

*Live your life: as much as you’re attending college to get an education, you have to distract yourself from time to time and give yourself a break. Whether it’s staying in and having a lazy weekend, going out and partying with your friends, be sure to have a fun time outside of college. Take this time to go out with your new friends and build on those relationships. Having said that, you have to know your limits because it definitely is way too easy to get caught up in the social aspect of college, and you shouldn’t neglect your studies by partying 24/7. I’m one to love a good party and I love being with my friends 24/7, but I know that there’s certain times I can’t go out simply because I have to stay in studying and catching up on work.

*College is very different from high school: they are two very different things in so many aspects. One of them is you are very much independent and free to do whatever you want to do, you can either attend or skip class without anyone telling you anything (it obviously is better if you attend!). One other very important aspect is there’s so much diversity, which I find to be amazing; you get to know people who have such different interests and backgrouds than yours. I suggest you take this all in and chat with those you wouldn’t normally do so, this will bring you different perspectives on life and it’ll enrich your cultural knowledge.

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And that’s it for today’s blog post! It’s longer than usual, but I wanted to make sure to give you every tip that I could think of that would help you during your Freshman year of college. Obviously, these are tips you can incorporate and adapt if you’re a high school student or if you’re farther along in college, since some of these tips can be taken in a general manner and not just for Freshman year of college. If you have your own tips for Freshman year of college or college in general, be sure to leave them in the comments down below so we can all help each other out!

Also, there’s some other tips I don’t have for you simply because of my college experience; like dorm tips, roommate tips, public transportation tips and tips related to going to college out of state. But I hope that the tips I gave you today will somehow be helpful to you!

And lastly, college is something you should be doing only because you want to, not because you’re trying to please someone else, and you should study and do whatever it is you’re passionate about in life. Whether you’re going to college or not, I just want to remind you to live your life to the fullest in general because time flies by and we have to take advantage and enjoy every moment for what it is.

Bye, beautiful!

Twitter: @stephanieccls

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