A few months ago, I got the chance to work a night shift at my first beloved home at CNU, Santoro Hall. Admittedly, I felt some serious jolts of excitement, and probably more nostalgia, as I walked up to the old red-brick building and rapped on to the glass door. Although I’ve never moved outside of my family’s home in Northern Virginia, I think the feeling of visiting somewhere you used to live is pretty much the same—there on my left was that same burgundy-colored couch and the same blue-speckled floor, all reminding me of my own time living in Santoro.
As I move out and the youngest students on campus move up, I’ll leave some advice from myself and some freshman year friends for not only making the college experience less stressful, but also for cultivating your own personal development.
“Call your family every so often. It’s easy to get caught up with your life here and let days, weeks and sometimes months go by without talking to your family. College is busy, and college is fun, but make time for your family. They have made time for you for the past 18 or so years, and you shouldn’t let those relationships wither—nurture them.”–Daniel, mathematics major and psychology minor
Pick your battles. This is a big one, and honestly is not just advice I would give to freshmen—it’s an ongoing lesson that everyone should strive for. If I’d learned to pick my battles more wisely and choose what I was going to make a fuss over better, things might’ve not been much different, but at least I would have learned a little more about a thing called maturity. And while it’s easy to react to every spark and flame, it’s also just as easy to walk away.
“One piece of advice you should really consider is time management. Time management is essential to having a successful college career. If you can manage your time right from classes, social life, extracurricular activities and studying, you will be stress free.” –Jeremy, biology major with organismal concentration and psychology minor
Don’t let others decide what kind of person you’re going to be. How many times have you heard this phrase in your 18 or 19 years of life? Probably too many, but its importance never fades. Everyone, from elementary to high school, must remember at least one time when fitting in was such an integral part of growing up. Hey, I mean I wore some pretty questionable things when I was younger for the sake of “looking cool.” When you go to college, however, don’t care so much about trying to fit in with the cool kids—you are the one who has to live with yourself for the next 50-plus years.
