How to Survive the First Year of College

High school is over! You've graduated and now you're on your way to college. Some of your friends (maybe even you) are going out of state, some are staying home to go to school, some are going to work for various reasons. It makes sense that you have some concerns about what college-life will bring you. Like the TV show, it's definitely a different world!

The college world introduces new philosophies, Greek life, religious challenges, academic challenges, some will be on their own for the first time, and some will have to make their own money... just think, for some this is their first introduction to debt. As a college freshman, this next year you'll be inundated with so much material from all walks of life... forget the first year, the first semester! Between August and Thanksgiving, your head could easily spin from the information overload.

So how do you survive? Better yet, how do you thrive in this different world?

1) Don't let intimidation creep in. Granted, this isn't high school, but this isn't totally unfamiliar territory either. Assess your environment. Your campus may be bigger, but you're not responsible for all of it. Your classes may be harder, but if you were smart enough to get in, then you're smart enough to get out! You deserve to be there just as much as anyone else. You have a right to succeed just like all the other students that are there and have been there.

2) Stay on top of our studies. In the first year or two academics is key. I fell into a situation where I spent the next three plus years catching up from the damage I did in the first part of my first year! It wasn't that I wasn't trying; I just wasn't as prepared as I thought I needed to be and I couldn't catch up fast enough. I was smart, but I wasn't smart enough to get help fast enough. If you need help with your classes, don't put off asking for it. That's what the tutors and teacher's assistants are there for - to help those who need help. More often than not, people are ready to help, but no one is willing to get help. You paid too much money to sit there and fail classes unnecessarily.

3) Get wise counsel from those who are willing to give it. Your professors are not the enemy. Seniors are not the enemy. Graduate students are not the enemy. Even your roommates are not your enemy. Listen to those who have walked the path before you. I'd recommend asking sophomores who've made it through the first year what things they did to make it through the freshman year.

At most campuses they may have an orientation week before classes really kick in. Take this opportunity to meet new friends, find support groups if needed, and get acclimated to your new environment. The advice you get now and the lessons you learn now may save you a lot of heartache over the rest of your college career.

4) Learn how to balance your checkbook now! If you don't know how to balance your checkbook this is the BEST time to learn! Most college students are now put in a position where they have to pay for their own tuition, pay for their own learning material (books, writing apparatus, notebooks, binders, etc.), pay for their own food, and pay for their own gas if they have a car. Some people will even have to get a job while taking classes. Welcome to the real world where tasks like that are at times necessary.

There are two things to keep in mind when balancing your checkbook. The first thing is this - what you bring in should hopefully be more than what you put out. Whatever checks or cash you write, or whatever is debited from your account, should not put your overall amount of money in the red. You may need to learn how to budget as well, so keep that in mind. first thing is this - what you bring in should hopefully be more than what you put out. Whatever checks or cash you write, or whatever is debited from your account, should not put your overall amount of money in the red. You may need to learn how to budget as well, so keep that in mind.

If you don't have one already, get a checking account and/or savings account and deposit something in them whenever you get a chance. If you're in a major city chances are you have a Chase Bank, or Citibank, or Bank of America. I'd recommend one of those if you have access to them as they are national banks. If not, a credit union is not a bad route to consider either.

5) Learn the difference between what you need and what you want. Sometimes as a teenager you're caught between what you think you need and what you really need. Let me help you. If you can do without it, you probably don't need it. Here are some examples... books are needs, food is a need, and clothes are a need. Tommy Hilfiger jeans are a want, gourmet delicacies are a want, and that Harry Potter DVD that you wanted for those downtimes in your dorm room is a want.

Some will even say that you don't need to go to every one of your classes. I honestly believe that'll be a judgment call on your part. I remember one semester I was in college I had an 8am physics class. Did I make it to every one of my classes? NO! Did I need to go to more than I missed? Probably so. Regardless of that, sleep was more important to me during those moments than going to an early morning class that I had very little interest in. Sometimes that sleep may be an absolute need and you may need to miss a class so you don't crash in all the successive classes.

My point with that illustration is that needs and wants are relative to you. Part of growing up is making responsible decisions and choices. If you honestly feel that something is a need, then chances are it really is a need. If you can look back on it and say it was really a want, take the lesson, and move on. If you spend more time obtaining the things you need, you'll set yourself up for the things you want.

6) Don't leave your family and friends from home behind. This is your initial support group. Get some calling cards if you don't have a cell phone that has a lot of minutes. This will definitely come in handy for you especially on those days where you may get homesick. That little brother or sister that used to get on your nerves will be missed in a few days or week of not being around them. Mom and dad who seemed so uncool will now seem like the wisest people on the planet. Call your family every once in a while, just to say hi. Don't ask for anything; just develop the grown-up relationship with them. It's always interesting - the transition from the child-parent relationship to the grownup-parent relationship; it definitely is a different dynamic.

7) Don't bite off more than you can chew. You are not required to take ten classes and get into two sports and work three jobs the first year in college. In fact it's highly frowned upon. If you want to laugh, imagine me frowning upon it. Seriously though, it's enough transitioning into college to begin with. Don't overdo it by trying to be in every kind of group and going to every party and being the social butterfly the first few weeks of college. The flipside of that is don't take a ton of classes, be the super-nerd, and no one ever sees you either! Both scenarios are out of balance.

Learn the schedule that works for you. Try and get classes that are relatively close together. The beauty of freshman year is that everything is pretty general. Everyone has the same type of classes more or less. You will have some kind of math, some kind of science, and some kind of literature or English class perhaps. You might even have psychology or art or philosophy class. Your major classes don't really kick in until mid-sophomore year or so, that's when you start seeing the same group of people over and over again. The beginning classes, though, are usually offered multiple times a day; find out what works for you and your schedule. If you're not a morning person, don't take an 8am class! If you're required to take four classes this semester, don't take six to prove anything to anyone.

8) Learn the campus inside and out. Some of most important places you'll want to find right away are - your school's student center, your department's main building(s), your dorm (and if you have friends there your friends' dorms), the cafeteria, nearby places just off campus that are beneficial (drugstores, food places, retail shops), campus bookstore, nearby grocery store, campus library, and scenic spots. Once you find these places you should be good to go for a while.

By the way, you should invest in a good pair of gym shoes and/or walking shoes, because you may be on a campus where you'll be doing a lot of walking. My campus was like that. I remember my first year I had classes that were literally 10 minutes apart, and you had 10 minutes to get there, and of course you never got out of that class on time. I was in decent shape but somehow it took me 15 minutes to get from the second floor of building A to the third floor of building B for my next class! I'd be in class winded and tired because I'm weaving and bobbing walkers. The funny thing was that during those class gaps a lot of us were rushing to get to that next class even though we had 10 minutes. I remember in high school I only had four minutes and usually had no problems.

9) Don't sign up for anything right away! The main thing I'm referring to here is credit card applications. That first month credit cards will be in your face like the plague! The sad thing is that what you'll get in return is a t-shirt and some candy. Do not... I repeat... DO NOT... sign up for ANYTHING right away. I don't care what kind of prize they're offering you; don't do it! If you don't know how to handle a credit card, then you especially don't want to do it.

Give yourself at least a semester to get adjusted to the ins and outs of school before you sign up for anything extracurricular. The exception to this of course would be if you got into school on an athletic scholarship - then I'm sure they'd be expecting you to perform right away. Other than that, give it about a semester before you consider a job, consider a fraternity, a sorority, or consider joining a social group. Transition is not always easy; don't take it lightly where you are.

10) Find good ways to relax on campus. I went to Northwestern University for undergrad. I was a hop, skip and jump away from Chicago. So that was part of my relaxation technique - going into the city. We also had a really nice student center with arcades and pool tables and general canteen. There was also quiet areas within our student center where people could do homework or take a map or have meetings and do whatever they needed to do. Granted we were a bigger campus, but I would imagine that most schools have some kind of area on campus where students can relax outside of the dorms and outside of their rooms. If not, get to know your city perhaps. Maybe there are places in your city where you can relax - like a library, or a café, or a bookstore (like a Borders or Barnes and Noble). Whatever city your school is in there are relaxation opportunities, take a weekend and find them.

Somewhere in your first semester you need to make sure you incorporate times of rest for yourself. Maybe that does mean take a day off and chill out on campus, or go into the city. Depending on the rigors of your schedule burnout can be easy. The first year is an adjustment year, so don't feel bad if you don't get the hang of this college thing right away. You'll definitely get better at it as you go along.