Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Loving Your College, No Matter Where You Go

By now I hope our college freshmen have settled into their environment, but sometimes it can take at least a full semester or even longer before it begins to feel like home. Perhaps it's not the school you wanted to attend in the first place.  Maybe it seems like your high school friends are having more fun somewhere else.  It might be you just haven't found your niche yet. 

Regardless of the reason, there are a few things you can do to ease the transition.  First, realize that you're not the only student who feels this way.  Even this late in the semester, adjusting to college life can be difficult.  But second, you're going to have to help yourself.  If you're not sure how to do that, this advice is a good place to start.  Make sure you pay attention to #3: coming home every weekend is not the answer and sitting  in your room every weekend isn't going to work either.  You have to give your college a real honest chance, and that means you have to get out and make a life for yourself on campus.  You did it at GPS (you've just forgotten that), and you can do it in college too.

Actually that's a good life skill to have.  After all, you don't know where you will end up after college.  You might find yourself in a new city far from home, and you'll have to start all over again.  You can do it; we know you can.

Update: Since my post was published this morning, I ran across an article that talks about starting over after college.  In it, the author discusses having to start all over again once she moved to Boston and how she used her alumni network to meet new people and get involved.  I have another idea: you can also use your sorority network if you were in one.  These are two easy ways to get involved and start that new life!

No comments:

Post a Comment