Image courtesy of Science News for Students. 

Heading to college for the first time is a huge milestone in a person’s life. While the moment is exciting, it can be daunting to enter this new stage in life without any knowledge on how to handle it. Not only will you be entering a higher level of schooling, you will also be living on your own for the first time. That leaves you with a whole lot to learn to get ready for the new school year. The few months that you have before move-in day are perfect for learning what you can to make your transition smoother. 

Adjusting to school can be a lot easier when you learn some important things about it in advance. It will make you feel more comfortable sooner rather than feeling as if you’re lost about what you should do. College will require a lot of dedication and focus if you want to succeed. You’re likely eager to succeed and want to take off running as soon as you arrive on campus, and that can certainly be possible when you learn the right information. Read on to find out what you should learn before finally heading off to college!

How to Share A Space With Someone

Sharing a space with someone you don’t know well will take some adjusting. 

Having a roommate in college will be so much more different than living with your parents or your siblings. You will be living with a person who likely comes from a different home background and has different living habits. You’ll need to mentally prepare so that you can adjust to this new living situation as soon as you can. You and your new roommate can have vastly different habits when it comes to sharing a room, and you need to learn how to accommodate different styles of living. 

Communication is key in this situation, and you need to know how to discuss any issues that you two may have while sharing a space. Some people like to sleep in silence and some need TV or music to sleep. Some people like it dark at night and some light a night light. You and your roommate may even differ on your visitor habits. Some people like having friends hang out in their home while some prefer to leave the home to hang out with friends. These are all things that you should be prepared to discuss and compromise on by the time you move in.

How to Keep Your Space Clean

Cleanliness matters when sharing a room with someone. 

If you’re not used to cleaning, you should start working on it now. When you’re living on your own, it can feel fine to live in a mess from time to time, but when you’re living with someone else, you have to take their feelings into consideration. Make sure that you are thorough when you are working on cleaning your space. 

The right items can help you stay organized. It also doesn’t hurt to know how to decorate and pick out the best items to suit your dorm room, your bathroom, and a kitchen space if you have one. 

Your roommate could have different standards for cleanliness and may not have the same view of it that you do. It can become a major source of conflict if you feel as if your room is clean, but your roommate does not. So practice organizing your things now and make sure you’re thorough when you clean up your current space!

How to Network

Networking will help set up your future after college. 

Networking can make the difference between landing a job that you want, and struggling to find a position at all. About 85% of all job positions are filled through networking. It is the most important thing you can do to gain future job prospects aside from earning your degree. Talking to people can offer you lots of information to help you get the results you need. You can gain a lot of insight from networking with different types of people on and around campus. Through networking, you can learn things about your field that may not be taught in classes, and you can make friends that are happy to assist you in the future when you need it.

To network properly, you should plan to join student clubs. Sharing your time and interests with like minded students can help you form strong bonds that you wouldn’t otherwise. Make sure to connect with your professors. They are not just there to teach and move on with their day, many professors love communicating with their students outside of class time. 

Since their field is most likely their passion and area of expertise, they are often happy to help interested students get into the same or similar fields. It is also a great idea to plan to get involved with internships and volunteer opportunities. Those will help you gain experience and connections in the fields that interest you. Social media is also a great way to network. You can network with people in your school or even people in different states and around the world!

How to Study

Studying will be even more important now that you’re in college. 

When you start school, you want to start off in the best way possible. Don’t think that because school just started that you don’t have to work as hard yet. That will only lead to you scrambling to try to make it up towards the end of the semester. When you start the semester right, it won’t end up being as stressful overall. The best way to start is to establish a study schedule right away. When you study consistently from the beginning, you won’t have to cram and lose sleep later on. 

Studying is best done in advance. You should start studying for a subject as soon as the class begins. This might sound like it's too early, but retaining small bursts of information at a time is a lot easier than trying to memorize weeks worth of information at once. Having snacks around can also make study time a lot more pleasant. 

Start by planning the kind of class schedule that will benefit you. It’s not a good idea to take a bunch of tough classes during one semester unless you absolutely have to. Take subjects you are good at alongside the ones you might have more trouble with. Also make sure that you don’t plan for all simpler classes during your first semesters and then leave yourself with all the tougher ones later on. You want to mix lower effort courses with higher effort ones to ease your load. 

How to Self Motivate 

You will mainly have yourself to lean on when away from your family. 

When you live with your parents, they may often involve themselves with your school work in a way. They might question whether you’ve gotten your work done, whether you studied recently, or even what extracurriculars you’re involved in. All of this provides you with some external motivation, but it will no longer be there when you live on your own. You must make sure to motivate yourself to succeed even when no one is pushing you towards it. 

Thinking about the goals you plan to achieve is a big thing that will help you motivate yourself. Even when you feel tired or lazy in certain moments, reminding yourself of what you plan to achieve will help to keep you going even in moments when you may feel burnt out. Keeping your goals in mind will keep you focused!

How to Plan A Budget

You will need to manage your limited budget. 

College students are known for being broke. You’re no longer living with your parents, but you’re also usually too focused on school to get a substantial job. Make the most of the money that you have on hand by making plans for how you’re going to spend it. When you can set up a budget for yourself, you will have fewer moments when you’re completely out of money. Often when people who aren’t used to handling money get their hands on money, they spend it all right away. So they will start the week or month off living well and spending money, but then will spend the rest of the time struggling. 

Whether you get money from your parents, a part time job, or loan refunds, you’ll do your best to keep track of it. You can try writing out a budget to keep for when you get to college. You can list out your perceived monthly expenses, how much money you will likely have, and figure out what you can spend at what time of the month. Thinking about this in advance will help get you on track as soon as you get to school. 

How to Feed Yourself Well

Good nourishment is often an underestimated part of college life. 

When thinking about entering college, food is not often the first thing on new students’ minds, but it is an underestimated part of mental health. Eating a good diet will keep your mind clear enough to focus properly on your work. If you’re an incoming freshman, it is likely that you have a meal plan. That meal plan can be enough to feed you well or it can be almost enough depending on the type of meal plan you have. Whenever you have meals to use, you should make sure to take advantage and use them whenever possible. But if you are ever out of meals, it will be beneficial to learn how to cook on some level. 

As a freshman, your dorm room may not be equipped for cooking, but there are many ways to make simple and nutritious microwave meals. You might not know how to cook in a microwave, but it is certainly possible. While it is much easier to cook with a stove and an oven, there are simple things you can make with a microwave. Some of those things may even surprise you. 

There are several resources that provide microwave recipes. Some of those recipes include microwaved pancakes, microwaved eggs, oatmeal, cheese quesadillas, and even pasta! You can even make small desserts in a microwave. You just need to have a few small mugs and utensils to do this. Practice making microwave meals before you get to school!

How to Practice Self Care

Self care is an important part of accomplishing your goals. 

Taking care of yourself is not something you might be thinking about, but it is really important when you’re working on your goals. Self care will help keep you from getting burned out, which will help keep you on track. Self care can include any number of things that help you feel good. Exercise is one form of self care. It releases endorphins, which are known as the body’s natural pain killers. It also releases serotonin, which is another feel good hormone. 

Making sure you eat full meals is another form of self care. It’s a bad idea to skip meals just so you can study or make it to class on time. You should set aside time to have meals before and after classes. It is also easier to be distracted on an empty stomach. You might want to be focused on your work, but your mind won’t completely be into it. Spending time with your friends, taking study breaks, and getting full nights of sleep are also great ways to take care of yourself. 

Freshman year will be the beginning of a great journey that you will remember for life. Succeeding through college will require a lot from you, but when you feel prepared, you will be ready to take on the challenge!