June 29, 2015

Get Involved!

College is about more than classes and fun nights out. In fact, college is about a lot more than classes – there’s also sports, clubs, and organizations you can join in order to make the most of your college experience. Plus when you join in on these organizations or clubs, you’ll find that you’re meeting people with common interests and it will be easier to meet friends.
You may be worried about making new friends and wondering how you will make new friends. After all, you may have spent your time from Kindergarten through High School with the same group of people and didn’t have to worry about making new friends. When you’re at college, a great way to make new friends is to get involved.
Your college is going to have a lot of clubs and organizations that you can join in on, and not just Sororities or Fraternities. There are going to be a lot of different things you can get involved in – you’re guaranteed to find something (more than likely a lot of somethings) that you’re passionate about. Whether it’s an English or Math Club or Colleges Against Cancer/Relay For Life, your college will provide plenty of opportunities for you to be involved with your college and feel more like you belong at college. Plus getting involved in college and being around others with common interests is just fun! When you’re away from home and your friends and family, it can get pretty lonely and you can get homesick. Getting involved in things you’re interested in and passionate about will help that homesickness and loneliness a bit.

The other plus side to getting involved with clubs and organizations? Your resume and job experience! Depending on what you are involved with and especially if you end up holding an important position in the organization, you can put that information on your resume to enrich your experience in college and your resume. 

June 19, 2015

Using The Resources Available To You

College isn’t just classes, dorming, and the college cafĂ©. There is a lot more available on campus for you than you may realize at first.
Gym and Pool – Chances are, your college is going to have a gym and a pool that are available for your use. And they’re going to be free of charge, so you don’t have to worry about paying for a monthly fee. That means if you’re paying for a gym membership, you can probably cancel it when you get to college.
Your Student ID – This is one of those great things you should really take advantage of. Carry your student ID with you every where you go. You can probably get discounts at some places around campus, but you can also get discounts at stores in the mall. You can even get discounts at museums and zoos. Some places may advertise that they have student discounts with student ID, but some places you may need to ask. Your college may even let you load up your student ID with cash to use on campus like a credit card at the cafes on campus. This is another thing you should take advantage of because that means you can leave your debit/credit card in your dorm room instead of taking it to class with you.
Tutoring – Your college will more than likely have a tutoring center on campus. If you asked your professor for help and still feel like you’re not getting the concept of what you’re learning, don’t be afraid to ask for help from a tutor – you’re not the only one who needs help. The college course will go by a lot faster than high school. In high school your teacher may have slowed down or went back to a concept if they felt there was confusion. With college, that may not happen so if you need help, you need to seek it out.
Your Professor’s Office Hours – While we are talking about your professors, if you need help you can seek them out after class (keep in mind they may have another class right after that one) or seek them out by visiting during office hours. Professors keep office hours, and they keep them for a reason – in case any student needs something clarified with class work or they need to talk to them about something from class, they are there. Visit them.  If you need to talk about something, by all means go see them. Don’t let your grades suffer because you simply didn’t seek help.
Counseling – Your college will also more than likely have a counseling center. Whether you need to vent about stress with classes or you need to talk about other things, don’t hesitate or be afraid to see them. College can be tough between the stress of college and the stress and homesickness of being away from home. If you need help, don’t be afraid or hesitate to use this resource – it is there for a reason.

Career Services – You may think it would be too early to think about your career services center, but it’s not. They are there to help you with interviewing, resumes, cover letters, what things you can do with your degree and even more. In fact, it’s not too early to think about this valuable resource because they can help you from the start with jobs! 

June 12, 2015

What to Expect Your First Day of College Classes

You may know what to expect when you move into your college dorm room (small, pretty bare) but you may have no idea what to expect of your college courses. College is a whole new territory for you and it is a weird mixture of exciting and nerve wreaking. So what can you expect on your first day?

Prepare for possibly awkward class introductions. Your professor may do this thing where they like to put you on the spot and make you say your name, where you’re from, and a fun fact about yourself. Some professors may do this introduction, some may choose a completely different ice breaker, or you may even get away with a professor that does none of these things.  That means you can just sit peacefully in your chair and not have to hurt your brain trying to think of a fun fact and end up coming up with nothing and then you think you’re pretty boring. If this happens to you, don’t worry – you’re not boring, you’ve just been put on the spot.

Your first day of classes may or may not be shortened. You may end up with a shortened class on the first day, you may not. The professors may choose to just hand out the syllabus, go over it a little bit and then let you go or they may keep you for the whole class. Don’t get excited at the possibility of a shortened class – go prepared mentally and with the supplies you need as if you were staying the whole class.

Speaking of the syllabus, it will be TERRIFYING at first! Seriously – you will be terrified when you get that thick booklet in your hands, there’s no way you won’t be. The syllabus is a 10 page (more or less) monster that lays out the semester. There’s going to be a few pages on various policies such as attendance and late work and a run-down of you can expect to learn. There’s also going to be information on what books and other supplies you will need (mostly found in your college bookstore). After that is pages and pages of your assignments. This is what will be terrifying – you’re going to look through it and get overwhelmed at all you have to do. This isn’t as terrifying as it seems at first. Every class period is accounted for in your syllabus and usually the professor will outline what assignment you have to do and when it is due. The syllabus will be scary at first, but don’t hide it away somewhere never to look at it again. Three hole punch that thing and keep it right in the front of your binder. By the end of the semester it will look pretty ratty from all the writing and highlighting you’ve done on it. You will refer to your syllabus so many times your pages may even start to fall apart. You’ll not only be looking back to see your assignments – you’ll also be referring to any policies and other information your professor provided for you. Seriously – at some point in the semester you will start to love this thing.

Your first day of class is going to be awkward. You may not know anyone so it will feel a lot different than high school did when you were possibly sitting next to the same people from kindergarten to grade 12. You may not feel brave enough to talk with anyone at first, but you will get more comfortable at college and you will soon be loving it just like you will love that syllabus. 

June 5, 2015

Making New Friends at College

College is largely about studying, but you can’t forget about other things as well. You need to have some free time to relax and do your hobbies whether it is playing video games, reading a book or just watching some TV to get your mind off of classes. You also need to communicate with others around you. Making new friends at college doesn’t mean you’re going to forget about your friends back home. In fact, you may make quite a few friends at college that you will stay close to for a very long time. So as you start and go through your years at college, don’t shut yourself off from friends and opportunities.
College is overwhelming at first. It always is for everybody, so don’t be afraid when you first move in. There are so many new things going on at once. From being in a new place to being around a lot of new people to college courses, there’s a lot that can be overwhelming at first. Making new friends can seem quite scary at first and you may wonder how in the world to make new friends. It may have been a long time since you made new friends because you may have been around the same group of people since you started school in kindergarten.
There are ways to make new friends without purposely trying to make new friends. Talk with people in your college classes. Maybe they’re wearing a shirt of your favorite band or movie and you can start a discussion about your common interest. Get involved at your college with sports, clubs and other activities. Your college will have a lot of activities going on even if you’re not involved with sports or clubs, so keep watch of things you’re interested in – they might be listed on a message board in your class buildings, in your residence hall or even sent through email. These events may seem awkward at first because you don’t know anyone. If you feel super awkward and alone, you can even bring your roommate and use it as a bonding experience with your roommate! Don’t forget about your roommate – get to know him or her. You may become friends (I hope) and you may even become best friends with your roommate.

Again, college can be overwhelming and scary at first but once you get used to being there and you start making friends you will have a lot of fun and enjoy the experience no matter how many English essays and exams get piled on your to do list in one week!