being alone is ok
Throughout college there were many days when I had to learn to be alone. Being alone was never something I really struggled with in high school; it actually was something I enjoyed doing. I always understood that, personally for myself, it was important for me to recharge my social battery and spending time alone was a perfect way to do that. College was very different for me in many ways when it came to being alone. In college, because you probably are living with roommates, and you know people on your floor as well as people around campus, it can be hard to find a space where you can be alone with yourself.
Once you are constantly fueled by social interaction, it can be difficult to even want to be alone because you are around people all the time. I found that once I was forced to be alone because my friends were busy or for any other reason, I felt way more lonely than I had previously when I was alone before. Throughout my year of college, being alone got easier and I eventually treasured the times I got to spend with myself. Things like eating alone, or studying alone, or maybe even just walking around campus alone were all things that helped me fuel my social battery as well as allowed to find some peace throughout my day.
friends come and go
Not only do you have to navigate living alone and managing yourself in college, you also have to maintain and build friendships and relationships that you make in college. Finding and staying friends with people in college is really hard, and I learned that the hard way. I have never had any particular conflicts with any of my friends before coming to college, and I always thought that I never would. That all changed when I had a falling out with one of my really close friends. Although this was a really hard thing that was really difficult to go through, it showed me to be more intentional when finding people you want to build a friendship with.
It is always important to find friends that bring out the best version of yourself and help you strive to become a better person. I learned that if someone is not reaching those standards, it is okay to speak up about it. It is also okay to not be friends with everyone, and that friends coming and going is a part of life. Every interaction you have with someone teaches you a lesson, and it is important that once those friendships end, that you dwell on the lessons you learned from that rather than dwelling on the negative things.
newfound independence
Something that I was so excited for when I entered college was my independence. Independence looked different than I thought it would when I entered college. Independence for me meant a lot of self regulation when it came to schoolwork, relationships, and personal life. In college you don’t have people telling you when to do your laundry, or to clean your room, or to do your homework. An important lesson I learned was that in order to stay in a good mindset mentally, I needed to be productive and do the the small tasks and chores when they needed to be done. I also learned that independence, while also being fun and exciting, also meant that you have to make decisions that is going to benefit you in the long run. For example, it can be super easy to stay out with your friends super late every night, but realistically, you should probably try to go to bed early (especially if you have early classes). Making those decisions that will help me rather than hurt me is something that I learned quickly in order to stay productive and happy.
experience new things
Lastly, college is full of so many amazing experiences and amazing people; it is important to take advantage of every single opportunity that you can. For me that meant going to school events, saying yes to people when they wanted to do something off campus, and trying to experience everything I can even the small things on an everyday basis. Overall, college is an amazing experience that has allowed me to meet so many amazing people and experience so many amazing things. If I could give any freshman advice it would be to try and experience every thing you can because you only experience college once, so you should make the most of it!