The first year of college contains the unique experience of having your first taste of independence while also having no idea what you’re doing. 

My experience with my freshman year was no different. I was dropped off at Shippensburg University with mixed feelings of homesickness and excitement for the upcoming year. After surviving my first year, I have decided to pass on my wisdom to the upcoming class of freshman so they are not doomed to repeat my mistakes. 

The biggest issue I dealt with during the beginning of my freshman year was homesickness. I was away from my parents, my dogs, and my little sister. My sister, being 3 at the time, did not understand why I was leaving home for school. Everyday I would receive a text from my mom telling me that my sister was knocking on my bedroom door, waiting for me to come out. 

Understandably, this made me want to go home. It was all I could think about during those first couple weeks. 

The only “cure” for homesickness is to find things you love about being at school. 

This can be anything. Whether it is picking up a new hobby or finding a place you enjoy spending your time, it will eventually ease your homesickness. 

As you are trying to find things to love about school, you should consider finding a club to join. 

While this is not the case for everyone, I arrived at SU knowing exactly zero people. I am an out of state student, so I dealt with both not knowing anyone and not being in close proximity to people that I do know. 

The thing that finally introduced me to people was joining The Slate. It forced me to go out and go to campus events I would not otherwise go to. It surrounded me with people I would not have met if I had not joined and put myself out there. It gave me the confidence to join other student groups, such as WSYC. 

With that in mind, get involved in something. Join a club, a student organization, a fraternity/sorority, or anything that gets you to interact with the people around you. 

On the topic of being social, try to make at least one friend in all your classes. 

Throughout my freshman year, I found that classes were much easier if there was someone I knew with me. Beyond having someone that you can ask for help, having a friend in a class makes you more likely to go. Even if you are just going to class so you can talk to your friend afterward, it still gets you to go to class. 

This leads me to the next piece of advice: go to class. Skipping class is a real temptation, especially if you end up with the dreaded 8 a.m lecture. While skipping class does not seem to be that big of a deal, it can easily become a hard-to-break habit. As painful it may be, dragging yourself out of bed and into class is the best thing you can do for yourself. 

Along with going to class, studying and homework are other things you will have to force yourself to do. 

I found myself struggling with the lack of structure when I first came to college. I had so much unstructured time that I never had in high school. This was a blessing and a curse, as I struggled to give myself enough time to complete my assignments. 

It is incredibly easy to tell yourself that you will do it later. The problem with that statement is that you probably will not do it later. The more likely scenario is you will stay up late desperately trying to finish the assignment the night before the deadline. This is a rabbit hole you do not want to fall down. 

Time management is one of those tricky things that is different for everyone. The only way to know what works best for you is trial and error. I learned that I do not work well in my dorm room, so I found other spots around campus or around downtown Shippensburg to work. 

Once you find what works best for you, it becomes easier and easier to get your work done while having time for a social life. 

On top of academics, a social life and maybe having a job, you need time to be a person. Everyone needs to eat, sleep and take care of themselves. This category tends to be the most neglected by students who are overwhemled by the other aspects of their lives. 

Ignoring your basic needs is a one-way street to burning out, which is hard to bounce back from. Pulling all nighters or skipping meals will not make you more productive. It will only make you more stressed and exhausted. 

I learned this the hard way my freshman year. The only way to avoid dealing with this is to learn how fit in relaxing with everything else you have going on. 

I gave myself a cut off time for doing work or activities. Once that time came, I would stop whatever I was doing so I could give both my mind and my body time to rest. 

It cannot be overstated how important self care is. It does not have to be the stereotypical image of putting on a face mask while reading a magazine. Self care is anything that helps you recuperate. 

Freshman year is a very difficult time for a lot of people. It comes with unique challenges. If you face those challenges head on, you will have an amazing time.

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