1. Donât overload your first semester. Starting college is a huge transition and you will likely be more tired than you would be otherwise because you are trying to adjust. Also, college classes go at a different pace than high school, so while taking 4 classes may not sound like much, it has the potential to kill you if youâre not careful
2. Donât worry if you feel overwhelmed and lonely. First semester sucks for pretty much everyone. It takes a while to find the type of people you can connect with.Â
3. Start or join a small group. Iâm speaking from my experience as a Christian, but this applies to other religions/groups as well. Second semester I started a Bible study for girls with an acquaintance, not only did it provide a weekly spiritual re-centering, the intimate atmosphere of praying, talking and studying the Bible together led to some of the closest friendship I had.
4. Even if you feel insecure, reach out to people. Likely, theyâre wishing someone would reach out to them as much as you. Most of the time, people will not find you annoying for initiating conversations or suggesting hang outs. Get to know people in your classes. Even if itâs just the person sitting next to you. Even if they donât end up being a close friend, itâs really nice to have at least one familiar person with you.Go to events. It will be scary. You will not know people. You may be miserable. You may come away having met or made friends with no one. But eventually, you will start to recognize people. And even that is valuable when you donât know anyone. It helps you feel a lot less lost.
5. Stay out of relationships until you have a solid girlfriend base. Letâs be real, relationships donât always succeed, and not having a good support group can make a break up a hundred times worth.Donât be afraid to drift from your high school friends, but also donât cut them off. Itâs good to explore new friendships, but high school friends can be dependable, long term friends that can be there for you in the absence of new friendships.Â
6. Confidence and kindness go a long way in making friends. If you are confident and kind, it is safe to assume assume that people like you.
7. Donât neglect your spiritual life. Itâs so easy to do when youâre so busy, but finding a church community can be a great source of community. Connecting with God can help a lot with loneliness and fear.
8. Donât stay up too late even tho you have the freedom to do so. ITâS NOT WORTH IT! Getting enough sleep will help with avoiding the freshman 15, help you do better in classes and overall make you feel better.
9. If you hate your major, give it at least a semester, but after that donât be afraid to change it. Everyone has moments of doubt about their major, but make sure you arenât confusing overwhelmed-ness for dislike of your major. Also, first semester youâre often taking pre-reqs so five yourself time to actually see what real classes in the major are like