Been There (Should've) Done That: Making the Most of Freshman Year

Embarking upon unfamiliar territory during the crossroads of life is most often very difficult for many people. Something about the unknown is intrinsically scary, even when there should often be no worry at all. The transition from high school to college falls within this scenario of uncertainty, and for many students it is an arduous challenge. Your parents, teachers, friends, and guidance counselors all give you, more or less, the same advice on how to “survive” your first year in school without the supervision of your guardians. As I look back on my freshman year in college at DePaul, I realize that there was no better time in my life than living the life of a freshman in college. However, there are plenty of moments within that year in which I could have used some unconventional college wisdom from the people in the actual trenches, the upperclassmen at DePaul. Hopefully, you will find my reflection and advice attractive and useful for your first-year in college.

As a freshman, when you make the giant leap to college, you quickly begin to notice many things which are vastly different from high school. First, you have to quickly adapt to living on your own, without any parental supervision. The inevitable enticement of going out every night of the week, drinking until you can’t stand up, and sleeping in and blowing off classes is ever so appealing. College brings you all the freedom you can imagine and then some. As much as I would love to say that I personally stayed away from this enchanting autonomy, and made great grades and never missed a day of class in my life, I simply cannot. Living in the dorm life is particularly a challenge because there is always someone doing something, no matter what day of the week it is. Yet, in order to keep from failing out you first semester (trimester in our case), you must restrain this freedom and grab personal responsibility by the horns and never let go. Although I did go out frequently, I kept a happy medium between my social life and opening up those books, and making the grades I was comfortable in making. When it comes down to it, the ones who end up flunking out their first year are the ones who do not restrain this freedom. Bottom line: Show some restraint, and try to set goals before the week on what days you can, financially and academically, afford to go out.

Many of you will come to school with lots of money, either from working hard over the summer, or, in most cases, still bleeding off your graduation fund. If there was one thing I regret the most my freshman year, it was the amount of money that I spent in the first trimester of school. Having little restrictions on my pocket book, I would spend money without a seemingly care in the world. I never balanced my checkbook, and I thought I was virtually invincible with my finances. To my dismay, I learned the hard way that if you do not keep track of your money, you will face heavy insufficient funds charges, which are never fun explaining to the parentals. Although many of you may think you can budget your money well, freshman year is a wake-up call for most students. Bottom line: Set spending limits for your weeks and try not to exceed them, it will only hurt you in the long run.

Once at DePaul, it is always good to network yourself as much as possible. No matter what your major is, this means getting involved in groups on campus. Whether you are a political junkie (like me), an athlete, a cheerleader, a writer, a musician, a thespian, or someone who just wishes to join a fraternity/sorority, my advice would be to do it all. The more you find yourself opening up to more communities and conversing with more individuals, the more you will gain from your college experience. It took me about two years to figure out that some of my most fulfilling happenings in my college career were within a certain group on campus. Bottom line: The sooner you get involved with groups on campus, the sooner you will have a fuller college experience.

Perhaps the biggest difference between college and high school is what is expected of you within the classroom. Obviously, college is a lot more demanding in many ways. The amount of reading assigned for an average college course is about four times that of an average high school course. Although reading all the assigned material for every course and every class within that course is ideal, it will often be very difficult if not impossible. My advice is to learn the system of your classes. Some teachers will assign readings and threaten a pop quiz or randomly call on you in class, while some will just assign reading so you know it for the midterm or final. Understand the difference between your teachers and prioritize your reading habits IF you find yourself behind in your classes. In the end however, all reading must be done in college as the teacher has authority to put any material in the reading on the mid-term or final exam. It is almost impossible to catch up with most classes if you skip a week’s worth of reading, so the bottom line is: Do not fall behind on the reading, and if you do, be aware of the effects in each of your courses, and catch up quickly because sure enough, it may be on the final exam.

When I was a freshman, I received perhaps the most sincere axiom from a former student at DePaul, and now I realize that, for myself, it was unquestionably true. He said “The problem with college is that you figure it out about the time you’re ready to graduate.” Yet, I do believe there is a way to avoid the truth in this adage, if you listen and learn from your colleagues above. I will leave you with my final piece of advice about how to handle your first year in school in the midst of ominous days; bottom line: Enjoy it and have fun, you’re never going to be a freshman again.