Starting your freshmen year in college can be really intimidating because everything is brand new. I remember move-in day pretty clearly, since I felt such a strong mix of excitement and nervousness. Although I had an amazing freshmen year, looking back there are some things I wish I would have done a little differently! Check out my tips below!
1. Get involved
Although in high school I was involved with so many organizations, my freshmen year I didn’t get that involved. I thought that if I filled my time with club meetings I would miss out on socializing and wouldn’t make any friends! Now as a junior, I’m involved in a bunch of clubs and realize that clubs are a great ways of make new friends. You automatically know you share an interest since you came to the same club meeting, so it is easy to find things to talk about. Now some of my closest friends in college are people that I met through getting involved with clubs!
2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help
I would consider myself to be a prideful person, and in high school I rarely asked for help from teachers or even friends. However after getting to college and especially now as junior, I realize I shouldn’t be embarrassed to ask for help. In fact, its actually really smart to ask for help because then you will learn the material correctly. At USC, both professors and teaching assistants will have weekly set office hours where they are waiting in their offices hoping students will come by. They want to help you! There is also other resources to take advantage of like the Viterbi Academic Resource Center (VARC) and Supplemental Instruction (SI) which is tutoring and review sessions taught by undergrad students who already took the class. Take advantage of these resources!
3. Form a study group
As you become a upperclassmen, you start to realize that you have the same 30 kids with you in every class. Therefore, it is a good idea to form a study group early on! Study groups are extremely helpful because you can help each other with questions on the homework and review for tests together. I formed a study group with all my fellow Building Science majors, since there are only 8 of us for my year. Because every semester we have literally the same schedule, it is easy to find a time we are all free to do our homework together! And doing homework with friends makes it way more enjoyable!
I spend way too much time with these kids
4. Explore LA
Spending my whole life before college in Colorado, once I got to LA I was surprised by how big it was! There are so many cool places to go, so why wouldn’t you take advantage of all LA has to offer? One of my favorite things about LA is all the different type of restaurants you can try! Before college I was a very picky eater, but now I’ve tried so many different types of food! Theres also so many cool places to go visit, whether it be a museum, the beach, a hike, or a taping of a show in Hollywood. I’ve gone to tapings of Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson, America’s Funniest Home Videos, and the Voice! Get out there and explore LA!
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