The Anxiety and Excitement of Starting College

Starting college comes with a lot of feelings. You’re wondering how to keep in touch with friends and if you will. You’re probably getting a little teary-eyed at the thought of leaving your friends and family (although you’d never let your mom know). And then your overall feelings are excitement and anxiety. There’s a lot of feelings going on and you’re probably wondering how to deal. The key is to not let any of those feelings overwhelm you and your new adventure.

First of all, you’re going to be a little homesick. Whether you’re an hour away or in another country, you’re going to experience this. Don’t think that you need to pack up and leave college the first week this happens. It takes a while to get into the swing of things, which means it takes a while to get used to college living, being away from family, and everything that goes along with it. Don’t give up right at the beginning. Get in the swing of college classes, make friends, explore the area around your college, and make yourself feel at home. Again, don’t automatically throw in the towel – homesickness is a normal feeling.

College is going to be a lot different from High School – this is good. It’s going to be a change. You may be a little upset and stressed out at first, especially when your homework assignments start rolling in and you don’t have assigned free periods to work on homework and study, but as you go through college, you’ll start to enjoy the experience and enjoy the fact that it’s different. The key here is to not start thinking “What did I get myself into?!” The key here is to not wonder if it would be different elsewhere so you can have something more like High School. Because it’s not. There will obviously be differences between colleges, but free periods, teachers that remind you every day that something is due and accept late assignments, and more relaxed homework assignments are High School things. Don’t start thinking you need to transfer or leave altogether. You’ll get used to it and then really appreciate the differences, trust us.

Your first semester is going to be a little rough. There’s no way around it. This is especially when you don’t want to throw in the towel. You’re getting used to a lot of different things at once. It’s normal to have a rough first semester. Don’t let that be your picture of how the rest of college is going to be. Most importantly, enjoy yourself. Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed by being away and the differences with college. Explore your area, make friends, seize the day.

College Move-In Day

There are a lot of steps leading up when college actually starts. It’s a long process that takes months, from applying to your college to arranging financial aid, to planning what you need to take with you. And then, finally, you arrive to move-in day. This can be an incredibly hectic and stressful occasion. And as hard as it is, you need to remember to stay calm. First, if you’re not calm, it will make moving in harder, and second, you don’t want to leave your family with you being in a bad or stressed mood. 

After you strategically pack the car, then you have to strategically unpack the car. It is essential that well in advance of move-in day you contact your college if they haven’t already given you information about moving in. Each college is different, and there may be certain things you have to do while moving in, such as parking in a certain area. And nothing is worse than getting to your college, unpacking, and realizing there could have been an easier way of doing it that the college set up. Also, your college may have strict times for moving in and you don’t want to arrive there afterwards.

Once you’re in your college dorm room, it can be overwhelming. You now have piles and piles of boxes, bags, and everything else littering your room and the only thing you can think of is where to start. The key is don’t feel like you need to unpack everything all at once. Especially when your family is still there. Of course, your mom will want to help you make your bed (let her), your dad will want to set up your mini-fridge (let him), but don’t feel like your room needs to look perfect right from the start. Get the basics set up like your bedding and fridge and then strategically unpack your boxes and bags once you have the basics set up and once your family leaves. These are the last few moments with your family for a while, so you want to make sure you enjoy it and spend it with them – don’t spend it stressing that your clothes aren’t arranged how you want them or that you can make your bed on your own.

Sleeping in College – Make Sure You’re Getting Enough!

Want to succeed in college? Of course you do! It may sound a little silly, but to succeed in college, one of the best things you can do other than study and do all of your homework is to get enough sleep. You may have developed an image of pulling all-nighters to study from movies or television. The truth is, you need that sleep badly and you don’t want to fall asleep during your exams. To avoid pulling an all-nighter and get the sleep you need every night, to start with you need to schedule your study and homework time accordingly. Seriously, you have to schedule it into your planner. If you leave it up to “whenever you get to it,” you’re going to find that procrastination becomes what you do more. Plus, leaving it up to chance just means a greater chance of pulling an all-nighter. And that’s what you want to avoid. Once you have your study and homework time scheduled in, you need to make sure you’re actually sleeping. And that can be tough while in college.

When you’re living in a college dorm room, you’re in an entirely new environment. Being in this new environment can mean it is incredibly hard to sleep the first few days and probably occasionally throughout the rest of your college life. After all, with every semester, you could have new people living above, below, and next to you and their schedules and habits are going to be completely different than yours which means you need to get used to a new routine every time.

To start with, you want to make sure your bedding is comfortable to just your liking because let’s face it, your bed won’t be very comfortable at the beginning. Once you get your bed to your liking, you need to ensure you’re getting a good night’s sleep every night and that can mean investing in sleep aids. Bothered by the light coming through your window? Even if your window has blinds, light is going to come through. You get your best sleep when your room is completely dark and to do that make sure you have a curtain over that window. Bonus points if it’s a thick, dark curtain that blocks light. If your college doesn’t allow curtains, you’re not completely out of luck because you can get a sleep mask that covers your eyes. Need a distracting sound from the person above you talking loudly on the phone while you’re trying to sleep? This is where a sound machine comes in handy – play the most soothing sound to your liking to lull your mind into a calm, sleep pattern.

The most important thing to remember is that your roommate is going to have a different schedule than you. That means they may want to study while you sleep. If this is the case, don’t get mad at them. Simply make arrangements with them such as no overhead light (using a book light instead). Discussing your schedules and preferences politely ahead of time will allow you to live more peacefully with this person in the long term.