By Juliana Kropinack
Hello, dear reader! It is I, your slightly annoying, overly exaggerative, certainly-not-anxious author! As a first-year student at Susquehanna University who is still learning about life on campus, who better to tell you about how to make the most of your freshman year? No one, of course!
So, you want to make the most of your time on campus, from the very second you pull up in front of your new dorm building and a swarm of upperclassmen strongarm your bags up to your room. But then what? What do you do first? Where do you go? Which of these strangers will be willing to sit with you on the floor of your half-furnished dorm and play Mario Kart at three o’clock in the morning while eating slightly burnt popcorn? You know, the important questions.
The answers to these questions are found here; contained is the first month of experiences and wisdom I have gained in my freshman year. Take my advice with a grain of salt since even I can’t tell if my strategies have fully worked. However, do consider that the advice is coming from someone who was a nerve-wracking mess when she first got onto campus. It always gets better, and here are some of the best strategies I can recommend to help you settle in during your first year of college!
1. Go to EVERYTHING within reason
I know, it’s a bit of a basic one. Every college-aged influencer, guidance counselor and upperclassman will say the same thing, but I am here to tell you that this works! Just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it isn’t goodadvice. Attending events,especially in your first few weeks of college, is a great way to meet new people and really dig your hands into the feel of campus life. Not only do you meet new people and find your footing, youalso get out into the world, put yourself in the lives of others and get to experience all sorts of new things outside of classes.
That being said, it can be really overwhelming when you first arrive. There seem to be so many things going on, all at once, and so little time to do it all. Sometimes, it can feel like your head is spinning . But if you take a breath to slow down and focus on what you want to attend, it can feel less scattered. You are able to pick which events suit your interests and your needs. Realizing that I didn’t need to go to EVERYTHING as a freshmanhelped me to prioritize and slow down. I didn’t need to hit every party, event and activity listed online. I could simply go to the ones that suited my interests while still meeting incredible people and findingopportunities for adventure.
PS: Yes, EVERYTHING does include office hours for professors and faculty. These events do not include the application of the “only if you want to” rule. Go to office hours, no ifs, ands or buts. There is no better way to make sure you are supported in the class and beyond!
2. Reach out first
Another huge tip that everyone seems to harp on is reaching out. One small conversation between two strangers can turn into more conversations, then hanging out beyond class, then study sessions and, eventually, those aforementioned late-night Mario Kart matches. But someone must initiate and someone else must be open to that initiation.
Luckily for you, dear reader, everyone is still finding their place within the first few weeks of college. You are not alone in feeling isolated, and that feeling will fade over time as more and more small initiations become bigger friendships. These initiations can feel scary, but they don’t have to be. Sometimes, reaching out can be something as simple as “Would you like to walk down to lunch with me later?”, or asking someone in your Spanish class for help with the conjugate endings for -ir verbs. It doesn’t need to be huge, but putting that effort out there will help you receive effort back, and before you know it, reaching out will happen without you even thinking about it.
You aren’t going to make the best friends of your life in your first-ever conversation with someone, and that includes when you meet people in college. But expanding those conversations, saying hello, and initiating that connection – that’s what develops friendships into something that could last a lifetime.
3. Try something new
Now, I know what you’re thinking: College is already new enough! Do we really need to add on new activities, new foods, new experiences and new ways of folding our T-shirts to make the most of our freshman year? Can’t we just exist as we used to and move on with our lives?
Honestly, fair enough. When I first got to campus, I was praying for some normalcy. All I wanted was to do something I would have done on a regular day at home, even if it was something as mundane as unloading the dishwasher or going for a walk down the street. But with college and all of its newness, so too comes the opportunity to take advantage of that! You are in a new place, with new people and infinite opportunities that you are PAYING to have! Use them to your advantage!
Play that new sport in the clubs available on campus. Experiment with that form of art you’ve seen on Instagram but never tried. Learn to cook in the kitchenettes of the dorm basements or maybe just get in the car with a friend and drive into town to try a cuisine you’ve never had. College is all about making yourself into a new person with access to knowledge, people and places that will expand your mindset, but you must be open to that, and at times, facilitate it.
4. Keep a routine
As important as it is to try new things, it is just as important that you are also getting into habits that will support your emotional, physical, mental and academic health. I recommend that you set a routine for yourself andfollow it as best you can, within reason, of course.
For me, the normalcy I craved when I arrived on campus was provided in my cleaning process every Sunday afternoon; I do a full dorm reset. Laundry, changing sheets, vacuuming, mopping and dusting were all normal things I would have done at home anyway, so now I just do them in a different place. Not only cleaning, but creating a routine where there previously wasn’t one also helped me find normalcy. For example, in high school, I got into the habit of doing work late at night, or whenever I could find the time. Now, I block off chunks of time in my day to study and do homework, as well as scheduling meals with my friends; you never have to worry about eating alone if you make plans ahead of time!
A schedule like this won’t work for everyone. But no matter how you choose to organize your time, it is essential that you do so. All the exploration and growth mindset in the world won’t mean anything if you fail your classes or can’t keep your space livable. So, have fun, but don’t lose track of what you’re here for.
5. Ask for help
Finally, we’ve reached the last substantial piece of advice I can give you. I could, of course, offer more, but the methods I would talk about have yet to be proven effective. I’ve only been here a month, after all.
But this piece of advice is maybe the easiest and the hardest advice to follow out of all the ones I’ve offered here today. It’s theeasiest because it often only takes one email or conversation, but it’s also the hardest because it is a difficult thing to admit.
Asking for help at SU is very easy. There are resources all across campus for those struggling with the transition into college. Those resources include Counseling and Psychological Services for your mental health, the Center for Academic Success for your academic needs, the Career Development Center for applying to campus jobs and the Center for Inclusion and Belonging to help you find your place. There are so many people on campus dedicated to helping freshmen feel happy and fulfilled at SU, but these resources require you to reach out first and admit that you need help and support in a specific area.
This requires a lot of strength, and it can be really hard to tell someone you need help. On the other hand, speaking from my own experiences, these programs are here to support you . No one will make you feel ashamed, and no matter what area you might need help in, there are people at Susquehanna that will help you to improve and feel ready for what comes next. So yes, it can be scary, but email thatprofessor about the material you didn’t understand. Tell your friend you miss home and need a bit of a distraction. Talk to upperclassmen about their experiences finding their place here. Everyone is willing to help, and you’ll be glad you asked.
So, that just about wraps it up! I hope that this article was able to help you, dear reader, in discovering some new strategies to use during your freshman year on campus. I know they were helpful to me.
Here’s to a successful freshman year for all of us!