Things I wish I Knew as a College Freshman
By: Shaun Wiech
I don't even know where to begin in terms of writing to my younger self. During my time at Ohio State, I have learned so much about what I value and enjoy and what I do not value and enjoy. Not to mention, some stuff about my friends and peers, and maybe a little bit about Marketing too. I honestly do not know why I picked this topic for my blog post because I am not the most introspective person, but I do think I have learned a thing or two on my collegiate journey that may be able to help you.
Take some time for yourself:
It is very easy to say this, but from my experience it is much harder to do. I still have trouble doing this and I know a lot of other people do too. College is an absolute blast, but it is extremely easy to get caught up in all of the assignments, exams, and various other responsibilities. And during those times, we often get stressed. I consider myself a pretty laid back guy and there were PLENTY of times where I was stressed out. It happens to all of us. Take some breaks to do stuff you enjoy. This could be working out, skateboarding, drawing, cooking….virtually anything. It really helps to decompress, and will be better for your mental health in the long run.
2. Try new things:
School is a place where you really figure out a lot about yourself. A big reason for this is all of the opportunities that are afforded to you. At Ohio State, there are over 1000 clubs! And if you do not go to a big university, that’s OK! Look for things in your town, try new restaurants or a new hobby. I have found that a lot of people are hyper focused on one or two things (this really seems accentuated in the business college for some reason...and that one thing IS the business college). Well it is important to have some direction in life, and to have a decent idea of what you want in a job, it is also important to be well rounded and well versed. And there are not many better times to do that when you are young or in a place like college.
3. There will ALWAYS be someone “Better” than you:
Sorry, I hate to break it to you. But it is true. There will always be a person with a better resume (so stop worrying about it when you look on Linkedin), there will always be someone with a better job, there will always be someone in a better position than you. Control what you can control (which should be a point in itself). Slightly deviating from this point. PLEASE study hard your freshman year. Just because you had 4.3 in high school does not mean that you will have a 4.3 in college. Classes are way harder, and assignments need to be completed in way less time.
4. Don’t be afraid to do things by yourself:
I think sometimes people associate this with being a bad thing for a couple of reasons. It may seem like you have few friends, or maybe you are not the most fun person to be around. However, everyone needs some time to themselves. It does all people some good once in a while. I think it is a good way to collect your thoughts and to just focus on you. You should enjoy doing certain things by yourself because you are confident and enjoy who you are as a person. There is no sense in really worrying what people think about you besides the fact that you are a decent human being (and for me personally...a good dog owner).
5. Meet new people:
For me personally this is one of the biggest ones on this list. Meeting new people has helped me in so many ways that I would not have even thought. I used to be pretty reserved, and I still am to an extent, but I am at the point now where I feel I can talk to anyone. Meeting new people has led me to try new things, provided me job interviews and opportunities, and of course has given me great friends. And if you are fortunate enough to go to college, there really is not a better place to do this. There can be up to 70,000 students all in one place who come from a variety of different backgrounds and have different ideologies. The amount of new perspectives you will have the chance to view can be amazing.
6. Realize that College (or Life) is what you make of it
This is something that luckily I realized pretty early in my college “career.” I was not having a ton of fun, I thought classes were hard, and I really was not involved in anything. I didn’t hate school, but I certainly did not think that it was all that it was hyped up to be. I had a vision of what college was going to be, and it was not like that for about the first semester. And this happens. I think many kids get homesick, or have trouble adjusting for whatever the cause may be. But to make college what you want it to be, YOU need to take initiative. Nobody is going to do that for you. Will there be people to help along the way? Absolutely. But ultimately, you are in control. If you want to be super involved, then go to the career fair and join clubs. If you prefer chilling in your dorm and meeting people there, that is cool also.
7. Make a Calendar:
Why did I not do this sooner? I have become so much more organized ever since utilizing google calendars. You can use any type of planner or calendar that works for you, but that google is something that works for me. I used to be one of the most disorganized people ever, and I really do not know how I made it through life. Somehow I did, but as I got older I started to realize going through life being unorganized was not going to work.