The transition from an upperclassmen high school student to an underclassmen college nobody can be intimidating to many freshman. Everyone walking into that strange residence hall room for the first time has felt the same rush of anxiety. But there are certain tidbits that some college upperclassmen wish they had thought about ahead of time that may make the move a little easier.

“Everyone says it, but don’t procrastinate,” Emily Niebuhr, Residence Hall Association president, said.
Time management is crucial to success as a student, Niebuhr said. It is so different to suddenly be in charge of everything in your life, there has to be some way to organize everything you want to do.

“You can always go to your resident assistant,” Ali Winieki, Wilgus Hall resident assistant, said. “RAs aren’t scary, we’re here to help because we’ve all been there.”

RAs are trained to help in every situation that can come up, and they have almost always been through everything that any freshman may encounter, Winieki said.
“Get involved early, it will really benefit you in the long run,” Winieki said.

The contacts you make in any organization will only encourage you more, Winieki said. They are people you can go to with questions or for advice.

Getting involved also helps combat those homesick feelings, Winieki said. Without having that distraction, freshman end up sitting in their room missing home.

“To like this place, you have to make it happen, it won’t happen to you,” Winieki said.

College is also the time where people recognize who they are individually, and show others who that person is, Niebuhr said.

“Nobody knows you at college. It’s a new start,” Niebuhr said. “You can be whoever you want to be, regardless of the label you had in high school.”

While figuring out who you are, don’t forget to use common sense, James Kersten, Brockert Hall senior assistant, said. Keep an open mind in every endeavor you undertake and don’t every take anyone’s word on something.

It is important to take academics seriously and realize that professors aren’t hired to berate students, Niebuhr said. If it’s intimidating to ask questions during class, it is a lot easier to talk to professors during their office hours.

“It’s not as scary going to professors as I thought it would be, they are really nice to talk to,” Niebuhr said.

There are many little tricks to help get people through their first year, but most importantly you have to remember that you are constantly learning, Kersten said.

“The more you learn, the more you realize you really don’t know anything and need an open mind,” Kersten said.

It is difficult in the beginning, because there are no connections or basis for anything, Niebuhr said. Getting involved early helps boost that confidence and spark great relationships.

“You really make college through what you give. If you don’t give a lot, you don’t get a lot in return,” Winieki said.

It’s easy to have your mind already decided when you arrive, Kersten said. There are endless opportunities to experience something new that would never have been interesting before.