After finishing school, the next option you’re given in life is to try and find your way through adult life.
Or you can try out an undergraduate course at college. If you’ve picked the latter, then good for you as this will be the start of a life-changing experience. College is a different experience than what you have at school, so in order to make it through, here are some survival tips that will come in very useful.
Expect To Pack Up A Lot Before Moving
Unless you’re living at home, you’ll be moving to the campus accommodation. It’s always recommended that you move away from your home to really enjoy the full experience that college has to offer you. When it comes to packing up your stuff, you may find that you are literally packing up the entire contents of your bedroom. That’s because you’re essentially moving out for a long period of time, and you probably won’t be back home until the semester at your college has finished.
You’re going to want to bring with you everything you need and use on a daily basis. Remember to consider your accommodation though as it might not be as big as your current room at home. You may need to cut down on what you bring because you will also likely have a lot more things that you’ve bought or collected during your time at college. It’s amazing how much material and baggage we can accrue in such a short space of time.
When packing, make sure you’ve thought about how it’s all getting there. If you’re traveling by public transport, you might be limited. So it’s probably best to have your parents drive you or to ask a friend with a car big enough to fit all your life’s belongings in.
Explore The Campus Fully
Once you’re unpacked and your parents have left you to your own devices, you’ll come to the terrifying realization that you are on your own. But never fear, there’s going to be thousands of others who are in exactly the same boat and you will likely always remember your first day because you make a lot of friends very quickly. As it’s your first day, it’s a good idea to explore the campus.
You may not have registration until the following day, and so it’s your chance to get to know the area before you start the real work. Take a look around the campus and familiarize yourself with all the key points, like the lecturing venues, the local student union, and other college facilities like the library and computer rooms. Depending on the size of the college, it might take a little getting used to, but as long as you know where your lectures will take place, that’s the most important thing to seek out.
Don’t be afraid to go up and chat with people and ask plenty of questions to those who will be on hand to give tours of the campus and to explain anything that you’ve not discovered yet.
Join Some Societies
As much as college is about getting that all-important qualification, there’s still the social aspect of it all that you want to enjoy too. Usually, in the first week or so of starting, there tends to be a society fair. This is an opportunity to explore what societies are on campus and there will likely be something for everyone there.
From musical theatre societies to sports, it’s good to find your group of people where you can enjoy something that you’ve always loved or maybe always wanted to try out. There’s no limit to the number of societies you join, but you should definitely think about how many you are able to take on alongside your studying.
As much as college is about new experiences and making friends, the studying aspect is just as important and shouldn’t be overshadowed. So use the society fair as an opportunity to scout out the societies that you might want to join. Ask questions, and if it seems like a good match for you, then sign up to receive updates on their first meeting or social event. A lot of these will be where you make friends for life or those that will remain a big part of your college experience.
Get Into Your Organized Mode
When it comes to studying part of college, it’s not like school. You don’t get asked to do homework, and it doesn’t get marked. You are expected to do it all yourself in regards to showing up to the lecture, taking notes that seem relevant to what you need to know, and then doing extra studying in your own time. College isn’t as structured as school is and so you have to be reliant on yourself to get the work done as and when it’s needed.
So organization is something you need to be aware of and work on to make yourself better at it. It’ll certainly be a skill that you use in your adult life, so it’s a good idea to perfect it now. From managing your student loan debt once you get into full-time work to making sure deadlines are met, it’s all going to be learned whilst you’re at college.
Managing your money so that you have enough to buy food to survive during the week. You also want to get a schedule or work via your calendar to book in study sessions when it gets close to exams or essays.
The more organized you can be, the easier the college experience will be in regard to the studying aspect. There will come times where you need to prioritize certain things, and sometimes your social life might need to take a backseat. However, it’s all worth it in the end, once you get that degree in your hands.
Perfect The Balance Of Study And Fun
Finding a balance between study and having fun can often be difficult. There’s a risk that you might do too much of one and not enough of the other. And either one can have an effect on the other if you’re doing too much or too little. It takes time, but it’s always good to ask older students within the college campus, how they manage their time between work life and social life.
You want to ensure that you are making time for both and that you don’t have to keep sacrificing one for the other. Consider how much time you are spending on studying during the week and schedule in some time strictly for socializing and having fun. Don’t make it so structured that you’re planning on what you want to do hour by hour, but giving yourself those evenings or half days to switch off from studying is crucial.
Find Ways To Curb Home Sickness
There are going to be times when you get homesick, and that’s to be expected as this will likely be for many, the longest time that they go without seeing their family. There are certainly ways to help curb sickness, and it’s good to get a hold of it before it starts ruining your experience at college.
Take with you some home comforts and speak to family and friends over video messenger so that you can see their faces, rather than doing it simply over a phone call. Try to distract yourself where you can, and don’t be afraid to talk to a student counselor if it’s started getting more serious. Homesickness is something we all go through at various points in our lives, and it’s important to help address this so that you can continue to enjoy your time at college.
There are many students that end up dropping out of college due to feeling homesick, and unfortunately, although they’re reunited with their loved ones, it can be a step back for them in terms of their career.
Always Think About Your Long-Term Plan
What’s the long term plan for once you’ve finished college? You may have an idea, but college is the opportunity to cement these plans somewhat so that you are not overwhelmed once you’ve finished your course and have no idea of where to go next.
At school, it wasn’t necessarily something you had to think about as you had college to think about first. Now is the time to get some planning done so that you have some idea of what you want to do. That doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind, but it’s important to think about what’s out there and what’s best suited for you.
Surviving college is an experience and one that will be a prominent event in your life. Enjoy every moment of it, and use these tips to help navigate your way through this life experience. Move away if you can for college, make plenty of friends, and join as many societies as you can. Create the perfect balance between study and social life and work hard for that college degree.
