Surviving College: Freshman 101

October 10th, 2005

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When it comes to student life, there are some big differences between high school and college. If you are a freshman about to begin your college career, here is what you need to know to survive.

A roommate can either make your college experience more enjoyable, or make your life a living hell. When you live with someone, there are countless things that can cause problems, but it’s important not to let these problems get out of hand. If there is a problem, the first thing you need to do is talk it out. Go directly to your roommate and honestly let them know what has been bothering you. Approach the situation respectfully and be open to hearing your roommate’s side of the story as well. Once things are all out in the open, it will be easier to compromise and come up with a solution that will be beneficial to everyone.

Next, when you have too much to do and too little time to do it, you can start to feel out of control rather quickly. It’s important that you learn how to manage your time early on so you don’t find yourself pulling an all nighter right before that midterm. In college, most of your work is done outside of class, which means your free time shouldn’t all be spent watching TV. At the beginning of each week, take the time to organize your schedule and figure out what you need to accomplish each day. Make note of upcoming assignments and tests and set aside times that you can work on or study for them. Managing your time wisely can be as simple as making a plan and sticking to it.

Finally, college is demanding, and if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to meet those demands. Chances are that Snickers bar you grabbed between classes isn’t exactly going to give you the energy you need to make it through the day. To avoid crashing later, try to make healthy food choices now. This may mean replacing candy with fruit or putting some vegetables on your plate at dinner instead of macaroni and cheese. Also, now that you are no longer on the soccer team, you might find that it is a little harder to be as active as you were in high school. Take the time to check out your college’s recreational center or see if there are any intramural teams you can sign up for. Exercising regularly will help you stay healthy and improve your mood, concentration, and energy levels.



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