From walking across your graduation stage to moving boxes into a dorm room, starting college is, to put it simply, terrifying. Being on your own for the first time is a tough transition that takes time to learn. Therefore, here are the things I wish I would have known coming into my freshman year, as a now incoming sophomore.
Now I could tell you the basics, about move-in supplies, joining clubs, the dorm basics, the same things any college prep story would mention. But I’d rather tell you the other stuff, the important, real and scary parts.
To start, I would tell any incoming freshman to be okay spending time alone with themselves. It’s scary to be somewhere new and feel like you don’t have people around you like you did with your friend group in high school. However, friends will come, we are all young adults that want friends, it’ll happen. However if you immediately latch to people out of fear of being alone, you may end up friends with people who aren’t that compatible with you. But the good ones, the ones you meet naturally when you are on your own path, content with yourself, those will be the ones that last.
Another thing I would tell incoming freshmen is to take care of themselves. Not just in a hygiene and cleanliness way, but mentally. Even though you are on campus, that doesn’t mean you have to be doing school all the time. Your dorm is your temporary home away from home. Be sure to find a way to separate from school sometimes, despite being there all the time, the same way you would at home after a day at high school. Take time to relax, and do hobbies that you did back home. If you’ve always liked to paint, do that,, or cook, or etc. Those things, they matter, they relax you, don’t be afraid to do them.
Further, recognize your social battery. Hanging out with people is amazing, and those are memories you will hold close to your heart. But if you are tiring yourself, trying to constantly hang out or draining your social battery, your mental health, grades, and college experience will suffer. It is okay to take time to relax, bed rot be the person that stays in bed for an entire day without engaging in daily activities and chores or do whatever it is that makes you feel recharged.
Altogether, this time in your life is going to be amazing. College is an adventure, and I am glad each of you are here to experience it with us here at UCM. But at the end of every day, just remember to take care of yourself. Your mental health is more important than any social pressure or grade. I hope you have an amazing freshman year experience!
