Tips for Your First Year
College is a time to discover things you may be passionate about, gain career preparation, and make friendships to last you a lifetime. But not everyone knows how to go about gaining the most out of their first year. As you slowly begin to approach the day to leave home (or stay local), here are a few tips to help you survive your freshman year:
1. Go to Summer Orientation
The temptation to skip summer orientation may loom through your mind, but skipping summer orientation may prevent you from learning about campus facilities, academics, and extracurricular activities. This day is also a chance to meet other freshmen students and gives you the chance to start making friends before classes start. 
2. Attend All Classes
This is probably one of the most obvious and frequent advice given to first year students, but it’s also very true and a must follow. Classes in college are much more intense and fast paced than high school classes. They demand a lot of time and require that you attend class to know the material. Missing just one day could set you back over a week with material.
3. Join a Team or Club
College is more than just academics. In order to meet new people you need to do more than just go to class, you need to become involved in campus life. By joining a team or a club you have the chance to meet people who share your interests.
4. Get an On-Campus Job
We all know how expensive attending college can be and since this is usually the case, a part time job may be needed to make ends meet. The best thing you can do is get a part time job on-campus. Whether it be at the campus bookstore or a departmental office, on-campus jobs save you time and allow you to work an hour or two in between classes. They’re more flexible and more understanding of a student’s schedule.
5. Stay Healthy (Keep the “Freshman 15” Away)
Eating three meals a day with snacks in between is all you need to stay healthy and make sure you don’t pack on the pounds. Skipping breakfast is never a good idea, it will cause you to feel even hungrier later on and the result will be eating a much larger meal. Avoid those late night food runs as well. Eating before going to sleep doesn’t allow the food to digest therefore causing additional food storage.
- Priscilla Rodriguez
Add comment July 23rd, 2008