Welcome to Your College Career
After four years of high school and cramming for college-prep tests, it’s your turn to join the ranks of the 1.6 million high school graduates who enroll in higher education every year. Yes, this is your chance to be free and go to parties whenever you want, but keep in mind you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you if you want to graduate in four years.
One of the most important things you can do while you’re at college is to maintain a balance between your work and social life. If you give either one of these opposing forces an advantage, the other is bound to suffer.
Developing a sense of responsibility is all part of the process. “This is the time when you are making that life transition from living at home with your parents to becoming an adult,” says Jason Rich, author of The Everything College Survival Book. “You have to take responsibility of yourself and make decisions that can have huge ramifications for your life.”
Talk about scary.
While there is no way to predict how your personal college experience will unfold, remind yourself that no matter how overwhelming your new independence and responsibilities may seem, you can handle them. Step inside those campus walls and take your future into your hands!
Making New Friends
The first thing you may notice when you get to college is that you don’t know a soul, other than maybe a handful of individuals from your hometown. The thing is, neither does anyone else! This is the perfect opportunity to start forming a new circle of friends and acquaintances, some of whom may end up being your best friends.
Many new students are nervous about living with a total stranger. In all likelihood, you will not only get along with your roommate but will soon consider him or her a friend.
“Despite hearing many horror stories about living with a roommate, I got along very well with mine,” says Keisha Crockett, a 2007 graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. “We were roommates all the way through college, from freshman through senior year.”
