8 Things I Learned My First Year of University

When I went for my first year of university I had just moved from a different province. I suffer from a very extreme case of being socially awkward, so I was dreading having to go to a new school in a different province where I knew absolutely nobody. At the same time though I was excited to have a fresh start and meet new people. I had this plan that I was going to go in there, meet lots of new friends on the first day and have the best time. Well, let me tell you, it didn’t exactly go as planned, but it did happen!! So now that you have a bit of background of my situation, let’s get into the things I learned!!

1. Everyone is as nervous as you are

I know that this is the most basic thing that you’ll hear about your first year, but that just goes to show how true it is!! You’ll go to school thinking that you’re the only one who is afraid and thinking that you won’t make any friends, but you will!! Everyone else there is just as desperate to make friends as you are, so everyone will be super willing to get to know every person so that they have as many options or friends as they can. I know it might be tough, but you have to go in with a confident mentality, and be outgoing enough to talk to people and even go up to them first. I’m normally a very shy and quiet person, but I managed to pull myself out of my shell long enough to make 5 amazing friends and being friends with a bunch of other people too, so trust me, if I can do it so can you!!

2. Freshman 15 is real

It’s easy to get carried away with the dining hall, I mean all you can eat food, right?! But don’t let that get the most of you. Only eat when you’re hungry, and don’t over fill your plate!! You can always go back for seconds. I went into my first year super fit and I ate really healthy. It was more like freshman 10 for me, but it still counts!! There were just so many options and different foods every day that I just HAD to try them all. It’s important to discipline yourself and remember self-control in that sort of situation. Seek out the healthier options and only have the super unhealthy, tasty foods every once in a while. In the very rare event that your school’s dining hall or cafeteria doesn’t have the option of fruits or vegetables, you can always go to the store and buy some, at least for a snack. But even if you gain a couple pounds, don’t worry about it; almost everyone does, that’s why a thing called freshman 15 was created!! You can always lose that extra weight again, it’s not permanent!!

3. Don’t just focus on school

Obviously you are there for an education, but you’re also there for a first serious step into adulthood, so make some darn good memories!! Don’t get so focused on school that you forget to socialize, go out, and destress!! You can’t spend all of your time on your classes, you need to have a good time with your friends. No one looks back at university and remembers how fun their classes were, they remember the crazy and fun memories from their social lives during that time!! Don’t take school too seriously.

4. Focus on school

Insanely contradictory to the previous point, but still very important. While you’re busy with your social lives and making amazing memories that you’ll tell stories about for the rest of your life, make sure you still make time for your education. It’s very easy to skip your classes because there’s no one holding you accountable, especially if you live away from home, so you have to discipline yourself and remind yourself how much money you’re wasting if you don’t go to that one class. Allot time for homework and studying, and make sure you make friends that value study time as much as you do, it will make it a whole lot easier to spend that time doing schoolwork if you’re doing it with your friends.

5. Get comfy

Let me tell you, from living in residence for 2 years now, I can confidently say that making your space a place you actually want to be in is essentially to your happiness away from home. My dorm room during my first year was super cozy and I loved spending time in it!! But during my second year it was a completely different story; I wasn’t comfortable in my room, and when I went home, I found myself not wanting to go back to my dorm room. Grab some cute throw pillows, soft chunky blankets, your favourite stuffed animals, pictures that make you happy, twinkly lights, whatever it takes to make you feel more content in your room. The more comfortable and secure you feel in your space, the happy you will be, and the more likely you will be to be able to spend long amounts of time there to just hang out or study.

6. Make at least one friend in each class

I know it’s intimidating walking into those massive lecture halls, seeing all of those people and not knowing a single one. The stress of starting a new class and not having anyone to lean on in the same subject is intense. So try to make at least one friend. I’ve had people come up to me when I’m sitting by myself and ask if they could sit next to me and we turned out being friends for a while!! I’ve even gone up to people and tried to make a connection. Whether or not you plan in being friends with them outside of the class, try and get at least one person that can be your ride or die in that course; someone that you can ask questions, work on projects with, and study with. No one wants to have to fight their way through a course by themselves, so odds are, everyone you approach will be open to at least being classmate friends!!

7. Use your professors to your advantage

I use to be totally guilty of being too shy and afraid to go and ask my teachers for help all throughout school, I was afraid that I would sound dumb or that I would leave still being just as confused as when I went. But since being to university, I’ve realized that the only way to truly understand is to ask for help!! Don’t be afraid to ask for help, this is your education and your future at stake!! Besides, it’s a teacher’s job to teach and help out students!! I recently took a GIS course which was totally not my thing. I asked about 25 questions in each tutorial I had, so much that I’m pretty sure my teacher started to become really annoyed by me. But what do I care, I was asking questions because I literally didn’t understand anything and I was trying to help myself actually pass the class!! Which I did, by the way!! So don’t be afraid to ask questions to help yourself!! It will make your life so much easier!!

8. You don’t need to have a plan

My entire first year consisted of random courses from every corner on the board!! I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to study, to get in to school I applied for Anthropology, not because I was actually interested in it, but because it was at the top of the list (because it starts with A). In fact, I unofficially changed my major about 5 or 6 times in my first year. It wasn’t until a couple weeks into my first semester second year that I discovered the faculty I wanted to be in. Despite knowing what it is I want to study; I still have no idea what career I want to do. But that’s okay!! Because as long as you’re studying something that you’re interested in, you have your entire university career to figure out what job you want to do for the rest of your life. There’s also the option of not even getting a job with your degree, because honestly, that does happen a lot!! But if you don’t even know what you want to study after your first year, that’s fine too!! You need some extra credits in order to graduate, not just the required courses, so don’t stress about not taking courses that are in a specific major.