College hasn’t been exactly what I had envisioned it to be, but not in a bad way! My first semester here at the University of Illinois has taught me a lot so far, and here are a few things I’ve learned.
Making friends requires effort
A big change for me from high school is that in college you don’t really just make close friends because of proximity. In order to make new friends I oftentimes had to reach out of my comfort zone and initiate conversations, join new clubs and participate in new activities. It gets hard to make friends in lectures when the professors are teaching, so I made a lot of my new friends in discussion sections for classes, at night when we go out, through mutual friends and by starting conversations with strangers.
Balance is key
In high school, I was the typical AP kid with way too many extracurriculars, and basically no social life. Here, I’ve learned a bit more about how balance is so important. Classes are hard, but instead of being in school for 35 hours a week, in college, this boils down to less than 15 hours a week. This means you have a lot of time left over to do whatever you please! At first, I struggled with my time management, but slowly I became more well-adjusted to my schedule and was able to add more things to my list. As long as I manage my time well, I find that it isn’t impossible to do well in classes, finish my assignments, work, do research, go to the gym, participate in club activities and still have time leftover to go out and have fun! It’s possible to do it all! I just had to learn how to balance it properly.
It’s okay to say YES… but also to say no
Transitioning from a super uptight kid in high school to having so much freedom made me feel conflicted. I wanted to go out and have fun, but for some reason, I felt guilty doing so. Don’t feel guilty for having fun! As long as I have a balance and I am keeping track of my priorities, I learned it’s okay to go out! But also, I learned that when I don’t want to, it’s okay to say no. Good friends are always going to try and convince you to go out with them, but if I deep down didn’t want to go, I’d still force myself. For me, FOMO is so real in college. Especially with social media, posts make the night seem so much more fun than they really are. I learned that when I really don’t feel like it, it’s okay to spend the night in and just chill!
Take chances!
The saying is true: you’ll never know until you try! In my first semester, I applied to work in undergraduate research when I was really sure I would not have been accepted for the position. Turns out, they did! Taking chances is so important because I was so pleasantly surprised with my outcome. Not only professionally, but taking chances socially is so important too! Making connections with the people around me has helped tremendously with my sense of belonging at school, and has really helped me get more comfortable where I am.
College has been a lot more different than how I pictured it, and it isn’t completely like what the movies show… but it isn’t the complete opposite either! This past semester I’ve learned a lot about college and look forward to what this semester brings!