Something that comes with being on your own in college is learning to be mature, responsible, and independent. I was never one to plan anything out, considering my monotonous routine in High School did so for me. I woke up, went to school for 7 hours, came home, did my homework, studied for any tests I had, and went to sleep. In my first few weeks in college, I realized how easy it is to fall behind as you adapt to a new lifestyle, new friends, and a new environment. In college, you are never going to be in the same routine as you were the day before so planning things out doesn’t necessarily work. Every single day is different. Work wise, definitely get a planner and make sure you are keeping up. But you will realize that your schedule and plans vary day to day. My biggest advice that helped me during my freshman year is every morning waking up and writing down everything I wanted to do that day. Between classes, meals, catching up with my family, and spending time with my friends, I would work on this. You have a lot of free time in college, so manage it wisely and balance it! This helped me stay on track. I also recommend meeting with your assigned advisor within your first few weeks of classes. For my specific major, I needed to take certain requirements. I filled my Freshman year schedule with these mandatory classes so that I could move on and focus on the intermediate/ advanced major-specific credits in my upcoming years, and I’m really glad I finished those because now I get to take the classes that I am most interested in.
