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Are you heading to college this fall and feel nervous even if it’s just a little bit? Ease your mind by knowing that all your future classmates and incoming freshmen going into college are in the same boat as you are and all current college students have been too. Entering into a new school environment and being away from home can be nerve-wrecking, but there’s plenty more reasons to be excited than nervous. Here are some ways that you can ease your nerves and get excited about your new home away from home.
Talk to current college students
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Some of the best advice you can get is from people who’ve gone their the same, exact experience that you’re going to have. Reach out to people from your school! Trust me, upperclassmen are more than happy to help you and they’re not as intimidating as you might think. There should be a new student orientation social media page for your school so definitely check that out and reach out to the people running it!
Reach out to your future classmates
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Your school should have a Facebook or Instagram page for your class so make sure to join it! Incoming freshmen typically post introductions about themselves if they’re looking for a roommate or even to make friends before coming to school. This is a great opportunity to meet new people before you get to campus. You don’t had to add everybody that you see on the page, but add a few people that you think have similar interests to you.
Attend orientation and other school-related events
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Attend orientation! During the summer, schools usually have summer orientation events so definitely check this out if this seems like a good option for you. Even if it’s being done virtually (because of the coronavirus), it still might be another great opportunity to meet your future classmates.
Change your perspective
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Even though I was super excited to be done with high school and go to college, I know as move-in day for my freshman year of college got closer that I definitely started to get more nerves. Whenever I felt these nerves, I definitely started to think about the uncertainty of the future. When this happened, I decided to change my perspective. I reminded myself that I was going to be receiving a great education in a city that I always wanted to live in (New York City!). If you start to think about all the things that can go wrong, switch to think about all the things that can go right. You have to remind yourself that negative thinking is going to do nothing to help the situation. Yes, your nerves are completely valid, but use them in a way that benefits you.
Turn your nerves into excitement!
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Your hard work from high school payed off and you’re going to college! That’s something you should be so proud of. One of the ways you can use your nerves for excitement is to start picking out dorm decor! There are numerous places to get it from like Pottery Barn, Dormify, and Urban Outfitters, to name a few. Thinking about decorating my dorm got me so excited, which is why I started to focus on that. You have so much to look forward to so make sure you’re focusing your energy on that.
I know going into my freshman year of college that I definitely had some nerves. I had numerous questions roaming my mind. What would the next four years of my life look like? Who was I going to meet? What would my new friends be like? How am I going to like living in a dorm? You’ll drive yourself crazy if you try to find a perfect answer for all your questions. In high school, I was someone who always wanted to follow strict plans and plan ahead for whatever I was doing. Before going into college, I told myself that I had to go into the next stage of my life by stepping into the uncertainty there was surrounding my questions. Looking back, I really had nothing to worry about. The best reminder I can give you is that everything is going to work out exactly how it’s suppose to. Trust me.
