Link to my original article: Tips for College Freshman
When freshman students enter college it can be a little overwhelming for some to handle (look at graduation rates if you don't believe me) and they start to develop bad habits or feel homesick having never dealt with being away from their families. The first time I went to school, I had no real problems my freshman year with classes but I had failed to establish myself to my surroundings and soon lost my way. My sophomore year is when these unsettling feelings began to really creep in and I started to question the path I was on, stopped doing my school work, stopped going to class, and at the end of the year dropped out. Eventually I got things straightened out and returned to school with a new sense of purpose and really focused on making my college experience more than just four years of taking classes I wanted it to be a time of growth and fond memories. If you found your way to this article you may be going through some of the same things that I did and are ready to make some changes to your life and have a great time doing it. If that is the case read on and let's break down this whole college thing.
1. You don't have to settle your life when you're 18 years old.
I know things can be set up a certain way so that some degrees require you to start as a freshman to get into a program (pre-med for example) and if you want to be a doctor that's fine this part isn't for you. But chances are you don't know what you exactly want to do coming straight out of high school and here's the kicker unless you've had tremendous life experience you shouldn't. Too often college gets treated as a degree factory and people go out and get jobs they hate because they never found or pursued their passion. Don't pick a path because the career doesn't sound that bad to you, that's what you do when you rent movies out of the Red Box not spend thousands of dollars on an education. Sign up for classes that you might not otherwise take or that you don't know much about. For example, I needed a science credit and had no real interest in anything but I went out on a limb and signed up for Biology, the introductory course for science majors. Much to my surprise I really loved learning about biology and have taken a few more classes on the subject simply out of my enjoyment. It might not be your chosen profession but you will expand your horizons.
2. Speaking of Expanding Your Horizons
You need to make friends there is no caveat of if you want to, you will have to spend years at this place why live your life as a loner? Being away from home is a lot tougher if you're constantly left alone to your own thoughts, negativity will start to consume your mind. If you live in a dorm you have a built in crowd of people to talk to, I never lived in a dorm so I had to use other methods to meet new people. The classroom is an easy way to gather some new contacts a conversation can be started the first day of class on a simple question about the textbook or just random banter introducing yourself to the person next to you. Make a goal of it and tell yourself that you will get to know at least one person in every class you take and at the very least you'll have new acquaintances. I do this and it has resulted in new friends, people I only talked to about due dates and homework, girls I've dated, and a full fledged relationship. Not everyone is going to become a best friend but building a network of support is very beneficial. Join a club or organization of some kind just to try different things out and if you don't like it then don't participate anymore. Also, please get to know your professors! If you have a paper due at the end of the semester get to work early on it and then go discuss it with your professor during their office hours. They will help to steer your idea in the right direction and as an added benefit they usually grade a bit easier when you have shown that you put forth the effort.
3. Organize Your Life and Don't Wait Until the Last Minute
The first thing you should do is a buy a planner of some kind and write down all of the due dates and assignments when you're given your syllabus in each class. Focus your energy on getting these assignments done early if you can and study what the lecture was about that day. Don't wait any longer to start reading the book and try to learn it later. Break it up into smaller pieces and study it while it is still fresh in your mind. Most classes only cover a few sections each class and that will take less then an hour for you to study on your own so just get it done. Then when it's test time all you have to do is review and not try to teach yourself everything in one night, trust me it doesn't always work. Organizing your time takes some effort but it is well worth it. By staying on top of things you can achieve your maximum output and still have more than enough time to go out and have fun.
4. Learn Something Outside of the Classroom
The library isn't just there for show and classes aren't the only ways you need to learn from there are only so many that you can take. Find topics that interest you and try to read as much as you can. Not only will it make you smarter it will allow you to grow and maybe come closer to making a decision about how you would like to live your life. Now if you couldn't tell from this article I am a big believer in setting personal goals and often apply it toward reading books so that I will finish the ones that I have started. I make a game of it and try to read a certain number of books on one topic in the shortest amount of time or read as many books as I can in one month. A great little technique I picked up for extra learning is to listen to audio books while I'm walking around campus or have some downtime after classes and I'm heading home.
5. Make Sure That You Have a Good Time in Moderation
One of the first things freshman discover when they first get to college is the party scene. Within the first few weeks you will have figured out which bars or clubs are the place to be on a specific night and who on campus always throws huge parties. This is all something that you should partake in but not every single night or not necessarily every week even. Neither of the two extremes of staying in and studying every single day of your college career or being the party animal is the way to go. Sure either one has some benefits of either achievement or fun but each also has too much downside to be sustainable. Like anything else in life be responsible for your own actions and when you do party keep it in moderation. You may have nothing bad happen for a while if you get extremely wasted all the time but eventually something always does and you will be wasting precious time.
