Your bags are packed, you’re ready to go . . . and whether you’re leaving on a jet plane or loading up the car, whether you’re excited, nervous or both, hopefully you know you’re about to embark upon the most exciting four years of your life yet. Although I’m by no means an expert, here are five things to keep in mind your first year:
5. Travel: You have all your options open your first year, so use the time to consider your academic interests and think about where that can take you in the next four years. Explore opportunities for research, internships, study abroad and volunteer work that will provide you with hands-on experience with your passions in the next four years.
4.Embrace Challenges: Many students find themselves facing a new level of difficulty in their classes and the workload in college. The best thing to keep in mind is that everyone else is in the same boat, and with time you’ll learn to time-manage and find that your professors and peers are always more than happy to help and advise you.
3. Get Outside: The best way to avoid the “freshman fifteen” is to take a holistic approach to healthy habits – stay active, eat well and find fun ways to de-stress.
2. Try New Things: College is a great opportunity to explore new opportunities and reinvent yourself. In addition to required classes take something that sounds interesting, just for fun, and sign up for clubs and activities where you will meet people of myriad interests, beliefs, politics and backgrounds. There’s so much to learn beyond the pages of a textbook.
1. Work Hard, Play Hard: Your college experienceis supposed to prepare you for the rest of your life. Devote yourself to your schoolwork, and reward yourself with time to just have fun. School comes first, but the college social experience is just as important. If you’re lucky, the friends you make at school will be there beyond graduation.
