There is much anxiety surrounding the transition from high school to college and the anticipation that is built around this next stage in a person’s life. While this is a big step in a person’s life and can come with a lot of anxiety, there are ways to gracefully transition from high school into college to make it an overall amazing experience and one that will leave you with lasting memories, lifelong memories and a lifetime of knowledge.
We live in a world of technology and social media now so connecting with someone via Instagram or Facebook nowadays is easier than getting up to go to the bathroom. Pages are created on Instagram that are dedicated to highlighting an incoming freshman class for many universities. Facebook groups are also created for the same purpose, to establish a tight-knit community early on and help freshmen get to know the people they will be having classes with and socializing with for the next four years.
Most colleges and universities also offer their incoming freshman orientation the summer before school starts to get them acclimated to the campus, meet some new people, and pick out their first semester classes. Make the most of this experience by walking around campus to become familiar with the buildings, putting yourself out there and meeting your new classmates and picking classes that are not too hard for your first year so that you can get used to the college course load. Freshman orientation is also where a lot of people meet their first friends in college. You never know; the person you could be sitting next to in a presentation might end up being your best friend all throughout college. So, try introducing yourself to as many people as possible and get their phone numbers if you can; one of those people might be the perfect freshman year roommate for you!
As mentioned above, you want to make sure that you ease into harding classes throughout college and not jump right into the hardest ones in your first semester. While this may be tempting if you were at the top of the honor roll throughout high school, you will want to start out with some required base level courses and some electives. You will quickly come to learn that college is much more than just going to school. You have to learn to take care of yourself in every way like spending money right, cleaning, and taking care of your health – some things you may have not done before. Do not burden yourself with taking Junior level classes if you plan on doing all this on top of clubs or even getting a part-time job. Additionally, when you are designing your schedule, be mindful of your habits and routines. If you are a person that likes to get up at noon every day or is planning to be involved in a lot of extracurriculars, maybe choose afternoon classes instead of morning classes and fifteen credit hours instead of nineteen.
This cannot be stressed enough, but just like high school, joining any sort of extracurricular activity is guaranteed the best way to make friends and like minded people your freshman year of college. Go to your campus’ club or involvement fair at the beginning of the year, go through all the tables and talk to the people at the ones that you find most appealing. Grab a flyer from each one and go to their first meeting. If you decide you do not like it after this, at least you know you tried.
One of the easiest ways to make friends in college and fast is befriend the people on your dorm floor in addition to your roommate. These are the people that you will see every morning and night and your go-to’s for emergencies like needing a tampon, someone to catch a ride with to a party or anything you might need on the spot. These are also the people you can have sleepovers with, watch movies with and go out with. These will be some of the best friends you will make in college so put effort into getting to know these people.
A common mistake many freshmen in college make is holing up in their dorm room watching movies or studying in their room away from the library. The best thing you can do for yourself as a freshman is to meet and put yourself out there with as many people as possible. Doing small things such as eating on campus for lunch, sitting in the social area of a library and trying out different sports or things going on around campus are simple situations that you might strike up a conversation with somebody. Spending some alone time is okay but you will never form long lasting friendships with people if you do not dedicate time to doing this. So, do everything you can because you might miss out if you do not give things a first time try.
Going along with refraining from isolating yourself, give everything that peaks your interest in college a genuine shot. Whether this be Harry Potter club, an a cappella group, or taking a class in Vietnamese. Take complete advantage of all that college has to offer and never stop exploring different parts of who you are. This is the only time that you will have access to this many unique experiences, people and knowledge so do not let it slip through your fingers.
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