Campus Life: What Should You Expect?
Welcome to our Campus Life section of articles, advice, tips and hints. We aim to cover most of the topics and issues that come to mind when you think about finally heading off to school. After all your hard work in applying to various colleges, writing essays for grants and scholarships and making endless phone calls to admissions and financial aid, shouldn’t this part be fun? ‘You’ll be taking the first big step to adulthood and separation from your family, at least for most of the year. Not only is this exciting, but it can also be a bit scary and nerve-wracking.
That’s why you can check our Campus Life section to find articles on residential life, what to expect from living in a small dorm room with at least one other person, probably a complete stranger. You’ll find tips and hints on what to bring with you to campus, and what not to bring. You’ll find advice on dealing with your roommate in an open, friendly way that can guide you into at least a comfortable situation with him or her. Roommates are a fact of campus life, and while these relationships can be tricky, they can also be the basis for life-long fantastic friendships. The key to being good roommates is, as in so much of life, simple communication.
We have articles on typical problems that freshmen face while they’re making the transition from high school and home life to independent student living on campus. From homesickness to common weight gain to getting a good night’s sleep to organizing study time and school work, we cover all the bases with articles on how to deal with these issues. We discuss how to stay healthy even when you’re tempted to indulge and how to manage your money even when it never seems you have enough. You’ll learn how to be broke, which is pretty much the case for all college students. You’ll learn to cope with this extremely common situation and even to enjoy the creativity it engenders.
Expect articles and advice on time management, one of the most important things you’ll learn on campus but outside the classroom. If you have a work-study position, you’ll learn how to balance your job, classes, and study and social time. You’ll find articles on relationships and dating, the dangers of the hookup culture and other important aspects of a full social life.
You’ll learn how to deal with feeling overwhelmed. After all, you probably will feel overwhelmed with a new location, new room, new roommate, new classes, new friends and new everything. As exciting as it is, take time to de-stress by taking a long walk, talking to other freshmen in the same boat and not taking everything too seriously, at least the first few weeks. You’ll find advice here on accessing your college’s resources for health checkups, counseling, how to choose a major, career coaching, collegiate athletics and more.
Our campus life section is here to help you get oriented to your new living situation and relaxing so you can focus on the important stuff—your academic studies. You and your parents have put in a lot of time and effort to get you here to college. While campus is a great place to socialize and grow new friendships and yes, party a little, your main focus should be on your classes, your education. What you put into your education during these years will be what you get out of it. That can be as little as a bunch of vague memories of all the great frat parties, or it can be as a truly great college education, with a life-long commitment to your special field of study, strong friendships with your professors and academic honors. You’re finally here at the college of your choice, it’s up to you to make the best of it.
