Photo above: Impromptu Monday trip into the city for Hot Chocolate at Ghirardelli Square
It’s important to note that you shouldn’t just let a mistake be left as a mistake, but rather that you should use what has gone wrong a lesson and let that transfer over into other aspects of your life. Don’t let the time you spent thinking in a certain way or doing certain things be a mistake, rather use that time as a building block for where you plan to go in the future.
1. Do not date freshman year, DO NOT date freshman year, do NOT – NOT NOT NOT – date freshman year.
Okay I have plenty of friends who have had successful relationships this year, so your don’t have to listen to me. But freshman year of college is supposed to be the time that you discover who you are, and when you’re in a relationship you’re spending more of your time focusing on who someone else is so much so that you often end up with pieces of their personality instead of your own. You don’t have to agree, but I think it’s really important to be single during your freshman year while you’re thrown into such uncertain territory and are given this opportunity to really be selfish for the first time. And I don’t mean regularly selfish, I mean actually selfish, where you don’t have to worry about anyone or anything else if you really don’t want to(you probably won’t be making a lot of friends this way, just letting you know).
2. Step outside of your comfort zone, it’s not going to kill you don’t be so dramatic.
Wow, you have to get out of bed or leave the library to go to some really interesting and unique event in San Francisco that you will never get the chance to go to again? DO IT! My first semester I passed up so many opportunities to go try new things, and in my second semester I never let that stop me. Stepping outside of my comfort zone let me know that my comfort zone really wasn’t as constricting as I thought it was. In fact, I enjoyed myself more when I was participating in activities that were new, and even ones that I wasn’t particularly good at yet. It’s all about perspective, and for me, well, I came to college wanting to learn new things so it was only beneficial to get outside and do something I had never done before.
3. Don’t be friends with them because you don’t want to be lonely, be friends with them because they make you feel good about yourself when you’re with them.
Seriously, don’t be friends with people just because you’re worried about being alone, be friends with people who make you thrive as an individual, and don’t put you down due to their own insecurities. Also, this is college, drama was really important in high school for a lot of people, but I came to college wanting to avoid all drama-it was never really my thing. If you want to surround yourself with drama, be my guest, but if you don’t know the signs and avoid them. In the very least call out your friends when they’re being dramatic.
4. Be Confrontational; Don’t forget to stand up for yourself!
Yeah, I still don’t have this one down, so I can’t really ask you to take my word for it, but speak your mind; let other people know what you need from them to succeed, as long as it’s not some ridiculous request. DO tell your friends if they’re doing something that bothers you, and DO talk to your roommates if there’s a conflict that arises. You won’t need to hurt anyone’s feelings, maybe you’ll actually bond with them instead since you’ll be proving to them that you respect yourself enough to demand respect from others.
5. You can learn in your own way.
This one took me a while to figure out as well, but you don’t need to study in the same way as everyone else does. Study until you feel comfortable with the material, regardless of whether or not everyone else agrees with the methods you are taking. Try to take away as much of the stress as you possibly can, because then you will do so much better when testing than you would have if you had an anxiety attack during the exam.
Good luck new freshman, and don’t be afraid to make as many mistakes as you can!