Photo courtesy of Madison Long.
Madison Long
Life Editor
College is a time for new experiences, football game memories, and the fear of communal showers. To survive your freshman year of college, listen to the tips below as written by a highly experienced second-year college student!
TIP 1: Know Your Way Around Campus
If you haven’t already experienced the hills of Idaho State University’s campus, it might be time to tackle the hike! With over 1,100 acres of property and 105 buildings, it’s easy to get lost. It’s even easier when you’ve slept in and are late to your class on the other side of campus.
TIP 2: Go to Class
In pajamas or full-face glam, it’s best to attend classes! Mom wasn’t wrong when she warned you about the risk of missing important deadlines, losing participation credits, and not understanding the class content.
ISU’s ROAR 1101 is an absolute necessity for adjusting students. The three-credit course helps first-years adapt to the new learning environment so that you can prioritize your well-being and future career. Learn how to manage stress, finances, connect with professors, and develop study skills.
“If you approach the assignments with a spirit of discovery and authenticity, it can build your confidence, your sense of worth, and help you cope with imposter syndrome,” says Dr. Elise Barker, a professor in English and one of the Roar 1101 professors. “The emphasis on practical self-exploration is fun! It’s also useful – any time you can increase your self-knowledge, you’re giving yourself a gift.”
TIP 3: Make Friends
Be social! Get involved with life on campus! Attend football games, talk to strangers in your classes, and say hello to that random stranger at the Halloween party. Remember that it’s just as hard for them to leave their comfort zone. And in the long run, they might be your best resource when it comes to needing notes or wanting a study buddy!
TIP 4: Be Safe and Responsible
Advocating for yourself is vital to getting the assistance and help you need. However, you also need to learn to take responsibility for that deadline you missed.
Communicate with your professors, and if an issue arises that they can’t assist with, turn to the ISU Disability Services, the Financial Aid Office, or the Dean of Students.
TIP 5: Don’t Feed the Squirrels
They will chase you, enough said.
TIP 6: Get Organized
Fan of online shopping? A few clicks and you’ll be halfway to the ideal college-life organization. Buy yourself binders, notebooks, folders, and a PLANNER. Set reminders on your phone calendar and about seven other locations to section out time for relaxation and assignments.
Don’t know where to start class-wise? Keep in touch with your academic advisor, create a plan of study, and eliminate all questions.
“An academic advisor is the one common, assigned relationship that all incoming students have,” says Aaron Todd, the Executive Director of Academic Advising. “We feel that students [who] are responsive to advisor outreach and work to foster a relationship with their advisor are more likely to find success navigating the University.”
TIP 7: Don’t Cut Corners
If they didn’t tolerate cheating in high school, they definitely won’t in college. Academic dishonesty can leave you with a big fat “F” for that one-day-a-week class.
Instead of cheating, call University Tutoring at (208) 282-3662 for help on math, science, writing, humanities, or social science. It’s completely free and can assist with scholarship essays, content mastery, and homework problems.
TIP 8: Take Opportunities
Before you can do anything in life, you have to be willing to take some new chances and hope for the best. Fair warning, you may have to try for a few months before you land on a job or career that you’re interested in.
Start searching after you sign up for ISU’s Handshake to view Career Path Internship jobs, part-time, full-time, off-campus, and on-campus positions!
TIP 9: Learn How to be an Adult
Whether you’re living on campus or in an apartment nearby, college is a good time to learn how to live on your own. Do laundry, cook, clean, grocery shop, save money, and all the other extremely boring parts of adulting.
To help with that, Benny’s Pantry is an on-campus resource to assist those with food insecurity. You can also check out the three courses involved with the College of Business’s Financial Literacy Certificate, part of which can count towards your general education requirements! Or for non-emergency medical needs, schedule an appointment with ISU’s Health Center.
TIP 10: Learn How to Exist in Both Sad and Happy
If you’re struggling at school, you’re not alone. Learn how to enjoy the highs of college, but make sure you address and deal with the lows. Learn how to be yourself, while still exploring and taking chances.
You won’t be a college freshman forever, so take advantage of it!
If you find yourself in need of help, just ask. Contact the on-campus mental health services at (208) 282-2130 to schedule counseling, which is free to all ISU students.
All these resources and contact information can be found on Idaho State University’s website, at www.isu.edu.
“Students feel so much pressure to get through college as quickly as possible and do everything ‘right’ because college is so expensive. There is a much stronger emphasis on practicality, like learning isn’t actually the goal,” says Barker, who shared that she explored a variety of classes and majors in her time at college. “Despite meandering, I still finished in four years. I don’t consider those random courses to be wasted time. It’s not the end of the world to not have a strict roadmap for college.”
