Perhaps
you were class president in high school. Or perhaps you were a member of the honor society. You could have graduated in the top percentile of your
graduating class; perhaps you were even valedictorian. Maybe your were in the honors program or the International Baccalaureate program. Actually, it
doesn’t really matter what you did in high school as you make the transition to
college. High school success doesn’t automatically apply to college.
You start
college with a clean academic slate, along with a lot of independence and a
myriad of critical decisions as you begin the transition into adulthood. The
decisions that you make and the actions you take during this first year of
college will have a major impact on the rest of your college experience.
According
to American College Testing one in every four college students leaves before
completing their sophomore year and nearly half of all college freshmen will either
drop out before obtaining a degree or complete their college education
elsewhere.
But wait!
This article is not meant to scare you or take away any of the joy, excitement,
and anticipation you feel about going to college. Quite the opposite. This
article is all about the things you need to do to not only survive your first
year of college, but to thrive in college. And many of the tools, skills, and
habits you develop through this article can not only be used to help you
succeed in college, but in your future career as well.
The first
few weeks on campus are extremely critical for all new students. It is during
this time that you make critical decisions that will have an effect on the rest
of your life.
Go to all
orientations. Do you really need to go on yet another campus tour? Yes. The
faster you learn your way around campus and around all the red tape the more at
ease you’ll feel and the better prepared you’ll be when issues arise.
Get to
know your roommate and others in your residence hall. The people you live with,
most of whom are going through similar experiences and emotions are your main
safety net not only this year, but for all your years. You may change roommates
after the first semester or you may stay roommates for all four years just take
the time to get to know your fellow first-year students.
Get
Organized. In high school, the teachers tended to lead you through all the
homework and due dates. In college, the professors post the assignments often
for the entire semester and expect you to be prepared. Buy an organizer, use an
app, or get a big wall calendar whatever it takes for you to know when
assignments are due.
Find the
ideal place for you to study. It may be your dorm room or a cosy corner of the
library, but find a place that works best for you to get your work done while avoiding as many distractions as
possible.
Go to
class. Obvious, right? Maybe, but sleeping in and skipping that 8 am class will
be tempting at times. Avoid the temptation. Besides learning the material by
attending classes, you’ll also receive vital information from the professors
about what to expect on tests, changes in due dates, etc.
Become an
expert on course requirements and due dates. Professors spend hours and hours
preparing course syllabi and calendars so that you will know exactly what is
expected of you and when. One of the lamest excuses a student can give a
professor: “I didn’t know it was due today.”
Meet with
your professors. Speaking as a professor, I can assure you there are only
upsides to getting to know your professors, especially if later in the semester
you run into some snags. Professors schedule office hours for the sole purpose
of meeting with students take advantage of that time.
Get to
know your academic adviser. This is the person who will help you with course
conflicts, adding or dropping courses, scheduling of classes for future semesters,
deciding on majors and minors. This person is a key resource for you and should
be the person you turn to with any academic issues or conflicts. And don’t be
afraid of requesting another adviser if you don’t click with the one first
assigned to you.
Seek a
balance. College life is a mixture of social and academic happenings. Don’t tip
the balance too far in either direction. One of my favourite former students
always used to say her motto was to “study hard so she could play hard.”
Get
involved on campus. A big problem for a lot of new students is a combination of
homesickness and a feeling of not quite belonging. A solution? Consider joining
a select group and be careful not to go
overboard of student organizations, clubs, sororities or fraternities, or
sports teams. You’ll make new friends, learn new skills, and feel more
connected to your school.
Strive
for good grades. Another obvious one here, right? Remember the words of the
opening paragraph; while good grades could have come naturally to you in high
school, you will have to earn them in college and that means setting some goals
for yourself and then making sure you work as hard as you can to achieve them.
Take
advantage of the study resources on campus. Just about all colleges have
learning labs and tutors available. If you’re having some troubles, these
resources are another tool available to you. Another idea: form study groups.
Make time
for you. Be sure you set aside some time and activities that help you relax and
take the stress out of your day or week. Whether its enlisting yoga techniques,
watching your favourite television shows, or writing in a journal, be good to
yourself.
Don’t
feel pressured to make a hasty decision about a career or a major. It doesn’t
matter if it seems as though everyone else seems to know what they’re doing
with their lives believe me, they
don’t college is the time for you to
really discover who you are, what you enjoy doing, what you’re good at, and
what you want to be. It’s not a race; take your time and enjoy exploring your
options.
Take
responsibility for yourself and your actions, don’t look to place the blame on
others for your mistakes; own up to them and move on. Being an adult means
taking responsibility for everything that happens to you.
Make
connections with students in your classes are one of the best students said his
technique in the first week of classes was to meet at least one new person in
each of his classes. It expanded his network of friends and was a crucial resource at times when he
had to miss a class.
You are
not speaking from personal experience here. And while you are really happy with
how my life has worked out so far, if you had to pick one thing to go back and
redo, it would be the fact that you chose working part-time jobs over going out
for those unpaid internships. And yeah, you get it that work and money are
important, and you realize how ridiculously spoiled this makes me sound, but
you could have done without the pocket money you were earning at work and
instead focused on getting an unpaid internship.
Who
cares? Do it. It’s such a college trap: they make you pick a major, and then
you start taking all of those required classes, and then by the time you
realize it’s not the major for you, you’ve already invested in all of those
hours and credits. Again, who cares? Go back and start over. There’s no sense
in continuing on a path that’s not fulfilling just because you’re too scared of
wasting time. We’re all wasting time, but you’re at college, and you’re
supposed to be figuring stuff out. It’s much easier to change majors now than
it is to go back to school five years after you’ve graduated.
If
nothing else, just work hard and try your best. And have fun. And don’t take it
too seriously. You’ll mess up, and it’ll be awesome. Treat the people that you
meet with respect. Party, party hard if you have to, but never at the expense
of your work. Because that’s what you’re there for, to study and work. Also,
stay away from hard drugs. Seriously, it’s not cute.
Good luck
freshmen