Homesickness

Whether you’re going to college an hour away from your family or in another state or country, there’s a large chance you’re going to be a little homesick.

Going to college is very exciting and a little stressful, especially on move in day. If your friends and/or family is helping you move in to college, try not to get too stressed out and take it out on them. We know it may be one of those easier said than done things, but honestly- enjoy the time with them and don’t take your stress out on them. Enjoy every minute of move in day because when your family leaves, homesickness and loneliness may hit you right away. College isn’t a bad thing, however, especially if you’re going farther away from home. In fact, it is quite an exciting time that you should take advantage of and not be scared of because you are going away from home.

Visit your family as often as you can. Whether you’re an hour away from home and can visit every week or every other week, take advantage of being so close to them. Visiting your family and friends back home once in a while will make the days when you can’t be with them a little bit easier.

Call home – don’t just text. Texting is easy and allows you constant contact with your family and friends which is nice, but it is also nice to hear a loved one’s voice on the phone. When you’re having a rough day, hearing your parents, siblings or best friend’s voice on the phone may be what helps you get through it.

Bring photos of family and friends from home to put up in your dorm room. Having them on your phone may not be enough. Keep a couple pictures of your loved ones somewhere in your dorm room. Above your desk, next to your dorm bed- wherever you feel it will help you most.

Most importantly, remember you’re not alone - you’re not the only college student at your college that is away from home. In fact, every one in your dorm is away from home! Make friends in your residence hall and be there for each other when there are exceptionally tough days. Don't forget your old friends from back home, but don't be afraid to make new ones. You're in the same situation as the rest of the incoming college freshmen which allows you to share the experience and have someone to vent or talk with.

How to Handle Stress in College

College can be stressful. You may have thought high school was stressful, but you’ll see once you get to college that high school was easy. College isn’t bad, it’s a lot of fun to dorm and learn about things you want to learn about but there’s a certain amount of stress involved as well that you will have to learn to manage.

Classes- Your college classes are going to be a large cause of stress, whether you take the minimum amount of credits for full time or the maximum amount of credits or somewhere in between. It isn’t going to be like high school where you started at the same time and ended at the same time every day. You may have days where you start out with a morning class and have classes the entire day with a few breaks in between. When your schedule is all over the place with classes and possibly work as well, it leaves odd times for you to study and do your homework. There are no study halls or built in free periods to do homework in college and your professors won’t remind you over and over to hand in your essay and give you a lot more time beyond the due date to hand in your paper.

All these factors combine for a stressful time. So how do you manage it? If you have free periods between classes, take advantage of them to do your homework (and eat, of course!). You’re already on campus so use the resources to get ahead and save yourself stress. And invest in a good planner to keep track of when things are due. If in the first couple weeks of classes, you are finding that your work load is too much (maybe you took the maximum amount of credits allowed or close to  it), then don't be afraid to drop a class if you have to. If you're looking at your work load of classes and you're wondering how in the world you're going to handle it all (again, if you took more than the minimum amount of credits), then it's probably best for you to evaluate if you need to drop a class. Don't feel bad, it happens. You get overly excited for college and then you find a bunch of classes you want to take and then you end up with 18 credits which is around 6 classes. You may have taken 6 classes in high school, but the work load in college is a lot more than it was in high school. You don't want to overload yourself in your first semester. Also don't be afraid to talk to your professors if there is something you are not understanding. All of your professors will keep office hours outside of class for a reason. If you need more help than what your professor can do, your college may also have a tutoring center for you to use. Take advantage of these resources. No one is going to judge you- if you were the only one that ever needed these resources, then they wouldn't be provided. You're not alone. 

Roommates- Living with a roommate can be stressful. It’s going to be completely new territory for you. You may have shared your room at home with your sibling, but when you get to college it’s with someone you don’t know. The only way to get through the stress of having a roommate is to communicate with them. Don’t completely shut them out or be rude to them because they have a morning class and woke you up when they were getting ready. Talk through what is bothering you.

Not being near family and friends- Along with classes, this is the most stressful part of college. It’s completely different being away from your family and friends whether you’re an hour away or in a different country or state. It may seem like it would only make you lonely, but it can make you stressed too- you don’t have your mom to give you a hug when you really need it and when you’re stressed from your classes your family and friends may be the only people that calm you down. Call home once in a while and visit as often as you can. Don’t just text your friends and family either- call them, hear their voices. It will help.

Everything about college is a whole new territory where all of the factors can combine and stress you out. Build relationships with new friends and vent when you need to. Most importantly, don’t forget to relax once in a while! Go out once in a while or get coffee with friends. Watch movies, read a book, play video games- whatever relaxes you. Of course you can’t do these things all the time in your free time, but if you don’t make time for yourself and the things you love to do then the stress will pile up to an unbearable limit. Yes, it’s college and you need to study hard and do your homework to succeed, but don’t forget about yourself, too. 

Remember- when you're stressed about classes, missing your family and having roommate trouble just remember you're not alone. You're not the only one to have had these problems and there are resources in college that can and will gladly help you through it all. 

Getting The Most Out Of Academic Advisement

Once a semester you will meet with your academic advisor to discuss your college courses and they will help you figure out your schedule and what you need to take. Registering for classes though is something you have to do on your own and it is an extremely stressful time. To get the most out of your college experience, it all starts with academic advisement.

First, you’re going to meet with your advisor and they’re going to tell you what is offered this semester but not next semester according to what you need for the degree you are planning on. Figuring out your schedule isn’t a “these are the classes I want and need to take and that’s it” kind of thing. It is not easy and chances are you will go through a couple drafts of your schedule until you find one that works for you with no conflicts. If you do figure out your schedule correctly the first time, you are extremely lucky.

A certain amount of time after you meet with your advisor, you’re going to register for classes online. At my college and probably at yours as well, there was a certain registration date and time usually at 11:00 P.M. or midnight. You can imagine that the system was overloaded with students trying to register. Remember I said this was a stressful time? Well you may literally be pulling out your hair as you try to log into the system (and it goes very slowly) and then quickly register for the classes you need to take. A few tips for registration:

1-      Register the most important classes first- ones you can only take this semester or only have one time slot offered and ones that you are excited for/interested in.

2-      Have back up options for classes. A few of them. Remember we said you may be pulling your hair out? This is why. With so many students doing the same thing at the same time, you may find the class you had wanted filled up while you were trying to log in and find your class. That means you will need other options. Especially if you are going to school registered as a full time student and only wanted to take the minimum number of credit hours to be considered full time so you didn't get overwhelmed. If you don’t have back up options and your classes fill up, then you won’t know what classes to add in instead and you could possibly drop below full time which will mess up your financial aid. Trust me- have back up options. And not just the name/class number of the class. Also have potential times. Pretty much, you want to have almost an entire back up schedule created.

Registration may sound incredibly scary, and for that hour you are on the computer it is an extremely tense and stressful moment. But you will feel so relaxed once registration is over. Don’t worry, you only have to do this twice a year. More if you take summer classes, but you probably won’t do that until later in your college life if at all and it’s not a requirement.

The most important thing I have to tell you is this: keep track of what college courses you have taken and what you need to take. The classes you have taken are going to be conveniently listed online in your academic account, but what you need to take still will not be listed. You can easily acquire this sheet through your academic advisor or from the booklet outlining the requirements for your degree. Your academic advisor will keep this information, but don’t trust it. Yes- trust your advisor, but don’t trust them to keep track of what you are doing when they have multiple students to worry about.

Let me tell you a little story about this: my academic advisor changed four times in four years of college due to the college rearranging what advisors had what students and also due to advisors leaving the college. My academic information got tossed around and at one point, the advisor didn’t know what was going on with my class plan. Luckily I had the information and the advisor was glad I was so prepared. This is an extreme case, but be prepared and don’t let it happen to you. Also make sure you go into academic advisement with some classes outlined that you are interested in. Don’t let your advisor completely tell you what you are taking without input from you. Granted, you have to take all these classes anyway, but if there was an English or Psychology class you were really interested in and you are eligible to take it, then tell your advisor.

Good luck!