#freshman tips

Edit: also for communal showers, how do you store your dry clothes? I was thinking a shower caddy and then using a draw string bag or something to store new dry clothes

It's been a few years since I was a freshman but here's tips anyway and as always feel free to add or send a message and I'll add on

-it is ok to skip class if you need to, I promise no one will care as long as it isn't regular

-don't overwork yourself. I know you feel like you need to take 18 credits and do honors and be in 3 clubs and work full time but no. Either you'll crash and burn and drop out or crash and burn and learn

-do the assignment when you get it if you can. You will forget otherwise

-no one cares what you wear. This isn't high school

-you can eat and drink in most classes. This isn't high school

-set your schedule as your lockscreen until you get it memorized

-don't take the 8 am class

-just dont

-you will end up skipping regularly

-if you fail a class it is ok buddy it's going to happen

-try not to overload your schedule, you gotta ease into college life because it IS very different from high school

-you will need a laptop, tablet, or something similar, way to many classes require online stuff that you won't be able to do on your phone

-bring snacks, water bottle, and some ibuprofen or Tylenol even if you live on campus

-don't wear heels. If it's career fair day bring them in your bag

-make friends!!! In every class!! Or at least have one phone number of a student in each class - will definitely come in handy when you miss or need help

-if planners work for you buy a 5 year one or a pocket one and put EVERYTHING IN IT WHEN U GET IT: assignments, tests, doctor appointments, bill due dates, etc. Color coding helps

-make notes colorful, you will remember more even if it's just doodling in the edges with colored pencil

Packing/Dorm Stuff

- If you’re in contact with your roommate, decide who’s bringing what of the “big stuff” (fridge, microwave, vacuum, etc) (if you’re able to, having a full-size vacuum is a GODSEND)

-Depending on how often you’ll be coming back home, pack LIGHTLY - especially with food stuff like paper plates/napkins/snacks -wait until you have a good idea of what your dining situation is like and what you can stuff in your bag from the dining hall (our cafeteria was buffet style and had stands with chips so I grabbed one or two bags every time I went

-You will not need nearly as much stuff as you think. Your room is probably already pretty small unless you're lucky and got a suite/apartment-style dorm setup. I promise you do NOT need to bring ten pillows for your bed. 90% of the time they will end up on the floor. I promise.

- Definitely loft or at least raise your bed if you can, you can fit SO MUCH stuff under there it’s insane

- You will probably have like, zero shelf space, so once you have a good idea of your room and what you’re bringing, one of those little box shelf cube things from IKEA or Target are great to put under our bed or somewhere else in the room

- Bring tons of the command strips/hooks

- You will probably change your room layout multiple times with your roommate before you get it right lol

-POWER STRIPS AND EXTENSION CORDS are a MUST. Keep in mind though, that you can’t plug your fridge into one or you’ll blow a fuse and everyone on your floor will be out to kill you

- If you have a private shower, bleach the hell out of it before you go in there with bare feet, if not, shower shoes!!!

School/Student Life

-Print out your syllabus before the first day of classes, some professors expect you to have them - they’re usually either on your student site (like Canvas or Schoology)

- Get to class ten min early, especially the first day, so you get a good spot

- Sit in the first or second row if you can if it’s a classroom, and within the first four if it’s a lecture hall

- If you have a chunk of time where you have nothing to do, deadass just wander around. Literally no one cares, you’re paying to go there, you’re allowed to be on campus. (Yes this was something I had to get over lol.)

-You will get out of your first class and have a moment of “Omg what the hell do I do now?” Find a cafe. Go to the library. Go get lunch or coffee or a snack somewhere. Do NOT GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM. It’s going to be very very very tempting but also boring in the long run.

- The first week there’s usually a lot of activities to welcome the new freshmen, food trucks, yard games, guest entertainers, (we had a magician the first week) bingo, etc. Go to some of these! You never know who you might meet and there’s free food a lot of the time 👀

- Join clubs! Our campus has a student organization fair the first week where all of our clubs have their own booth and stuff, idk if you’ll have something like that but 🤷🏻‍♀️ I literally joined Model UN because I wanted the pretty sticky pad set and it ended up being amazing - join a bunch of clubs that interest you - if you end up not liking them there’s usually no obligation to stay on

- Once a week or so has passed, you’ll start to find a natural schedule that works for you. For me, that meant after getting out of my 10am I went for a quick brunch/light lunch at the cafeteria or local cafe, and studied/hung out there until my next class, and then went to any clubs I had that evening. Try and stick to that schedule once you find it, familiarity/routines are so comforting sometimes, especially for me

- You might not make friends right away. That’s fine. My friend group didn’t click until late March. I had people I was friends with, yes, I talked to them in class but it took a hot second to find the people that I knew I would be friends with for a long while yet.

- Stay on top of your grades! Each professor might have a slightly different method of grading; my English professor only gave grades on our papers BUT he was also grading us on participation and stuff, but it wouldn’t be posted on our student site - so you were kind of left guessing sometimes. Some professors put everything on the student site, and some only put a few things on. If this happens you can usually send them an email requesting your current grade in the class

- Stating the obvious here but if you’re invited to a party, or just hanging out with friends there is NEVER any obligation to drink, and if there is, you’re hanging with the wrong people. But if you do decide to, make sure it’s with people you trust and that it’s not too far from your residence hall/have someone walk back with you

-For the love of god do NOT BUY YOUR TEXTBOOKS IN ADVANCE, I cannot emphasize the amount of times when I bought a $100 textbook, got to class, and the professor a) offered a cheaper option or b) sent a PDF link for the book

i've gone to every trivia contest (virtually) my campus has had and i've won a total of $165 dollars in gift cards (2 $50 for first place, 2 $25 for second, and a $15 for third)

i went to a career fair and walked away with 12 pens (at least one is gel), 3 good-sized water bottles, 5 mini hand sanitizer bottles, a tri-color (blue, green, yellow) highlighter, a compact mirror, 4 stress balls, 3 snack bags, 1 tote bag, 2 notebooks with attached pen (1 is spiral bound, the other is cloth bound hardcover), 3 writing pads, and a fidget spinner

i got a free stuffed tiger at a student activity thing. also a mini terranium and a baby bamboo plant. and a space-painted hotplate

i've gotten free pizza a few times for making "goodie bags" with various clubs for different causes (armed forces, womens shelter, domestic violence shelter, kids charity). they had all the stuff laid out, i just had to put it in a bag and got a slice of pizza in exchange

the above were free. i also paid $2 to go to the "foreign food festival" and got 2 bags of 6 to-go boxes each, about 10 meals worth of food+2 desserts

i have the option of getting a free massage 1-2 times a week because my school has a massage therapist program and they're always looking for practice dummies. i haven't gone yet but like.

"straight a's only no exceptions" is a good motivation, but don't be upset if it doesn't happen ESPECIALLY if you tried

lend people pencils if you can.

it's ok to wear sweats and a hoodie to school, sometimes you're all late or just don't feel like it. no one will really care, trust me.

if anyone tells you not to doodle during class, spit on them. note taking becomes more fun when you can write a little doodle or comic in the corner (especially if it's relevant to the lecture!! making little comics or jokes helped me learn certain things better!!).

do your homework or studying whenever you have time so you have to do less at home. got 15 minutes of free time? knock out an assignment or two. get an outline for an essay started. anything.

try to keep yourself as healthy as you can. sometimes it's unavoidable, but remember to try. you'll live with your body for the rest of your life so take care of it.

try to participate, even if it's just answering one question in class. with covid happening, some schools have smaller in-person classes making it SO much easier.

eat literally anything for breakfast just please get a bit of food in your stomach.

if you're anything like me you love listening to music while studying. whether you can concentrate while having music w/lyrics is up to you. i know i can since it eventually becomes ambient background noise but it may not work. if it doesn't, videos game/anime/movie soundtracks work really well.

change your music to match the type of studying you're doing. is it a chill "i have all the time in the world to finish this" study? or an "oh fuck its 11:59 and this essay is due at midnight" study?

write your notes in pencil, and make them more organized or easier to read later.

Hey y’all! So I know I’ve been terrible about posting this year (adjusting to college + miss rona = struggle), but I’ve honestly missed this blog and would like to start posting more often! Since I have officially finished my first year of college as a Sustainability Studies and Business Management double major, I wanted to share some tips on surviving your first year of college! This first part of the series will focus on academics!

-don’t go crazy with the course load: seriously, don’t be that kid who takes like 18 credits in their first semester. No matter what, adjusting to college life is weird, so give yourself enough time to explore, adjust, meet new people, and practice self-care!

-if you are not a morning person, do not sign up for morning classes (unless you have to!): Since I live off-campus, I have to wake up at 7:30 for my 9:30 classes and it is my personal hell (an 8:30 just might kill me). The early risers will try to convince you it’s not that bad, but schedule your classes at times when you will be the most present and engaged. 

-try out some interesting classes! This is the time when you will have some freedom to explore different areas of study, so don’t hesitate to try something new or take a weird class! Who knows, you might accidentally find something you love.

-it is absolutely ok to change your major! No matter how put together some people may seem, no one has their life completely figured out in their first year of college. You may find that the major you have excitedly been waiting to take classes for is absolute ass and that is ok! Talk to advisors and people in your classes to see what is right for you. I actually found my second major (sustainability studies) through a conversation with a random girl in one of my classes. 

-sit at the front of your class! if you are easily distracted, like me, it is the only way to stay focused. 

-show up to office hours prepared. no matter how confused you are, the second you walk into office hours you are going to forget every single question you had, so make sure to write them down and come with the materials you need so you don’t waste your time and your professor’s time.

-all-nighters are overhyped. I used to hear so many people boast about the all-nighters they pulled to study but I genuinely think it is a waste of time and energy. Unlike a high school schedule, your college schedule is going to leave you with so much free time. Try to finish all of your work in the time between classes so you don’t have to cram it all into one night. I did this, and honestly spent so much time sleeping during the fall semester (oops)

-join Facebook groups/group chats for your classes. this gives you a way to ask questions and get materials when you miss class.

-don’t study in the same place for hours. I’ve found that moving to a new location every now and gave me time to reset and helped me retain more information. The longer I stay in one place, the more distracted I get. 

-if you have the means invest in an iPad/tablet! I pooled all of my graduation money to buy an iPad and apple pencil and I am so happy with that decision. I got the good notes app and write notes and download readings (so I can highlight them) on there. Also, whenever I have to read novels for class I get them on the kindle app (which is often cheaper than buying a physical copy). This has helped me save a lot of paper and makes my backpack so much lighter.

So there are so many things that you don’t think of because you don’t use them all the time. So these are some things that have made my life much less frustrating. 

Mini stapler/staples: papers, maths class, you’ll save everyone’s life.

Nail clippers (hangnails are a thing)

An extra eraser.

Laptop.

Laptop charger.

Phone charger.

Headphones.

Extra pens/pencils.

Snacks.

Tissues.

Tampons/ pads: You never know when you or someone else will need them. 

Compact umbrella.

Emergency poncho. 

Dry erase markers/ Chalk: Who knows when you’ll find an empty classroom to do hw in?

Extra loose-leaf paper.

Whiteout.

Hairbrush/comb.

Wireless mouse: Great for 3D design.

Water bottle: stay hydrated kids. 

Let me know if there’s anything you’ve found super useful to have on hand.

If you have more to share feel free to add! Happy to clarify anything in the post or just have a chat.

All the best,