When you are in your first year of college, it can be easy to feel lost, a little confused, stressed out or just a little blue. This is perfectly natural and normal – it doesn’t make you different or strange. This is life as a new college student. However, it can help to have some words of wisdom to give your life more guidance, so that you can make the most out of your first year. In all reality, your first year of college is the most important, so you really want to get off on a good foot, or else you may feel wobbly for your next few years of college. Here is some helpful advice for first-year college students.
Make sure that you pay attention to the syllabi.
When you first get your classes and sit down for your first day, your professor will give you a sheet of paper, or a folder. Inside this folder or sheet of paper will be the semester’s syllabus. You can think of it like a guide for the semester. It will have everything from what the professor expects from you – to when papers are due. It is important to study your syllabi very carefully.
Speak to Your Professors During their Office Hours
On top of paying attention to the syllabi, you also want to spend time with your professors. This is especially the case if you have any questions about the class or the subject matter you will be studying. More than anything, talking to the professor and showing interest will earn you valuable points. All you have to do is find out when your professor’s office hours are and make an appointment.
Join in on Community Events
There is a good chance that your college will have various community events during the course of the school year. For instance, your school may have a food drive. If this is the case, you want to sign up. Building up your community involvement will not only be spiritually satisfying, it will also look good on your resume when you are applying to graduate school or when you are actually applying to a future job.
Maintain Balance Between School and Personal Time
Whether you are getting NEC’s forensic accounting degree or USC’s business degree, you will sometimes feel like you are up to your neck in schoolwork. This is why it is important to find ways to have some personal time. Keeping a balance between school and personal time will be a huge help when it comes to not feeling stressed out. When it comes down to it, you owe it to yourself to relax.
Stay On Top of Your Diet
On top of everything, you want to maintain a healthy and well balanced diet. This means that you may have to cut out junk food. Of course, you don’t need to cut it out altogether (even though that’s best for you), but you want to significantly scale back or find ways to level things out with a salad or fruit. In the end, it is critical that you stick to the five food groups when staying on top of your diet.
