With high school out of the way, it’s time to set on your next adventure as you become a freshman at college. Attending college is a great change in one’s life and not only because it typically involves moving. This will mark the beginning of taking the responsibility for your own actions and choices while taking the first step to becoming an adult. College is infinitely fun and exciting, but such a big change also comes with stress and anxiety. Therefore, it would be best to prepare for your freshman year of college so that you can enjoy this new experience to the fullest.
1. Tour the Campus in Advance
Just because you’ve been to the campus tour once when you were looking at several different colleges doesn’t mean you shouldn’t schedule another tour now that you know what college you’ll be attending. This will allow you to get a better understanding of where everything is so that you don’t have to waste time searching for different buildings once you start this new journey. What’s more, getting familiar with your college campus before you actually move will save you the stress and trouble of potentially getting lost when it’s time for your classes.
2. Take Care of the Housing
You have two options when college housing is concerned – you’d either settle on-campus in a dormitory or off-campus, in a rented house or apartment. In case you’ve settled with the first option, check to see whether it’s possible to be in a dormitory that’s close to your classes or maybe even share a room with someone you know. If you want to rent a place off-campus, you have more factors to consider. Decide whether you’ll live on your own or share a place with roommates. Consider your budget and needs to narrow down your search. Also, go through the lease contract carefully so that you avoid potential qualms with your landlord later on.
3. Think Practical and Pack Smart
When moving to college, you might be tempted to bring all of your belongings with you. However, that is far from necessary and chances are you probably won’t have enough room to store everything, especially if you’ll live in a dormitory. But even if you’re moving to a house/apartment, you honestly don’t need every single item from your home with you. After all, you’ll need to have something to get back to when you visit. That said, be very practical with your essentials, especially clothing-wise. Think carefully about what you tend to wear regularly and come up with outfits that can be easily mixed and matched.
In case you’d need to bring some furniture with you to your new place, make sure to book the movers well in advance. Don’t wait to hire a moving company when everyone else is also looking for help to move to college.
4. Get Involved in the Change
Change is never easy but college is definitely a period of your life that will help you discover who you truly are. As such, why not embrace this change by changing things on yourself that you’ve always wanted? Let’s say that you’re moving from Atlanta to some other city; you can make the most out of your hometown to get that LASIK eye surgery in Atlanta clinic you’ve always wanted and ditch the glasses. The change doesn’t have to be that drastic though. If you so desire, change up your hairstyle, or the way you dress. Take the steps to enjoy your freshmen year of college before you actually go to college.
5. Practice Time Management
One of the biggest challenges for freshmen is time management. After all, there will be numerous classes and extracurricular activities you’ll have to stay on top of, and maybe even a part-time job you’d wish to take, together with social life. All these responsibilities can become overwhelming if you don’t know how to manage your time well. This is why it might be a good idea to practice your time management skills and organizational abilities before you actually leave for college. Create schedules in advance, install time management apps on your phone, try to delegate time for different activities as you visualize your days at college, and so on.
In order to enjoy your time at college as a freshman, it’s crucial that you take good care of your health. Of course, during your campus tour, make sure to remember where the health clinic is located. However, be prepared to put some extra effort into taking good care of yourself. Student life is not all fun and games, and when the money is tight, it’s easy to forget just how important regular sleep is or a healthy diet. But even on a budget, you can eat the right foods three times a day, go to sleep at a set time, as well as sneak in some exercise into the mix.