What I Wish I Knew Before My First Year
It’s springtime, which means millions of high school graduates are fantasizing about what their lives will look like when they begin their next chapter at college. I remember fixating on what I wanted my future dorm room to look like: would I want patterned sheets to match my posters, or aim for a more mature look? I stayed up so many nights wondering what my roommate would be like, who my friends would be, and whether college would be like how it looks in the movies. But, even with all that preparation (and trust me, I did LOTS of research), there were still things that I had to learn as I went along. Now as I look back as a new graduate, I find myself thinking about what advice I would have given my newly-admitted self just a short four years ago. Hopefully, some of these points can be helpful as you prepare to enter your first year of college!
Don’t feel pressured to find your “best friends” your first semester, or even your first year of college! It’s completely normal to have friendships that ebb and flow as you settle in at your new school. It might seem like everybody else has found their niche even at the end of the year, but in reality everyone will have friendships come and go as you figure out who you feel most comfortable around.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Whether it’s about a homework question you don’t understand, a campus building you can’t find, or homesickness that doesn’t seem to go away, know that everybody needs a hand sometimes and there are tons of resources to help you out, as long as you ask for them.
If you find that it’s hard to get others to open up and talk about their difficulties adjusting to college, be brave and offer to be the first one to do so! Even though everybody experiences their own unique struggles in transitioning to college life, a lot of people don’t feel comfortable talking about it until years later (and always regret waiting!). So be bold and be vulnerable! Your friends will thank you for opening the dialogue -- especially since the best way through any adversity is with good company.
Work hard, but don’t strive for perfection. You might find yourself overwhelmed at first by the amount of schoolwork assigned to you, but you’ll learn quickly what to focus most on and what to leave to the side for the time being. At times, there just are not enough hours in a day to get every word of reading done, and in those moments, close the book, put on your pajamas, and GO TO SLEEP. It will be there in the morning, and even if you never get to finish it, there will be very little penalty! Ultimately, we are our own harshest critics– so give yourself a break and learn how to say, “that’s good enough.”
Finally, the cardinal rules that I have vowed to always live by: eat three meals a day, sleep 7-9 hours every night that you can, try to move your body in some way each day, and download a meditation app. These habits are not signs of weakness; they are the fundamental needs that we too often neglect for the sake of working harder. No matter how stressful your current situation is, fulfilling these primary needs will help you significantly more than any amount of studying or worrying.
Hopefully these tips will be helpful as you prepare to enter your first year of college! There’s no telling what the future holds, but know that you already have all the tools necessary to succeed and grow during the next four years. It’s an exciting and nerve-wracking time of your life, so cherish every moment of it!
-Izzie Rivera