7 Mistakes you will absolutely make as a freshman.

This is a graduation season. Therefore, if you are saying goodbye to your high school life – this is to prepare you. If you are finishing your first year at college – this is to comfort you. If you are, like me, have long forgotten what all the fuss was about – this is to remind you how big a deal some things seem to teenagers and possibly, to make you smile.

I used to dread mistakes. I used to be a perfectionist. I remember, entering my freshman’s year with a perfect picture in my head. I wanted to live that year as a flawless fantasy of a young adult comedy-drama – and I did. Only it was more on a side of comedy and drama than on the side of flawless. Yet that was exactly what made my first year exciting and real.

SCHEDULING CLASSES BEFORE 9 AM EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK

You think, hey, I can handle it. I need those credits, I need free afternoons for a library, and besides, the name of the subject sound cute. Wrong! You can’t handle it unless you are a crazy-early bird, and even if you are, your roommates probably aren’t. You are going to ruin their sleep in the mornings, but boy, won’t they get back at you by wild late nights. As for the library, your free afternoons will be absolutely useless, since you will be too sleepy to remember who are you. You can schedule one or two morning classes if they are crucial, but don’t get carried away.

PARTICIPATING IN EVERY STUDENT ACTIVITY AVAILABLE

Overachieving high-school mentality will kill you if you are going to carry on like this in the college. College is about prioritizing. You will have to choose what is more important for you, what you can do without, and what is totally useless. Making mindful choices and balancing trade-off is what prepares you for your independent life. If you ever felt your perfectionism is a burden, then time for shaking it off is now. You can be good at one thing and suck at another and that is fine. Relax.

NOT HAVING ENOUGH SLEEP

You will understand that sleep is priceless during the finals week. Sleep is always priceless, but during the finals, you will come to the painful realization that you’ve messed it up seemingly beyond repair. Remember the old saying? You can’t have high academic results, rich social life, and plentiful sleep. You can pick any two of those, but that’s it. I’ve picked the first two and sent my circadian rhythms all over the place for years to come.

CHEATING

Then, of course, you can have all three, if you are a trickster. You can use a crib sheet during your exam, you can smooth-talk your friend into writing your essay for you, or even order it from a service. But then you will completely miss out on the lesson from the #2 about prioritizing and mindful choices. Plus, you cannot possibly think that you will get away with such things forever? Even if they never catch you and you graduate with flying colors, having a habit of slithering out of responsibilities will complicate your life as an adult.

COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS

That is a toxic habit and it can push you towards cheating in the first place. If you were a high-school valedictorian, you will have a hard time adjusting to the fact, that you are not the smartest person on campus. In fact, you can sometimes feel like a complete idiot. You should not. Your coming here means you admit you don’t know things – so you enrolled in college. To learn them. Your willingness to grow and learn is what makes you smart. It that is not enough to make you feel better – reread #2.

DRESSING UP FOR CLASSES

When you reach your senior year you completely embrace your campus as a home. That means sometimes you can go to classes in your pajamas and fluffy slippers. That is a privilege that isn’t yours forever – abuse it, while you still can. Stop living by the “dress to impress rule”. As you already know (from either this piece or your own tough experience) sleep is priceless. Waking up 2 hours earlier to put together a stunning outfit and ever so slightly curl your hair simply is not worth it. By all means, look gorgeous for parties and dances – you are going to have a lot of them.

BEING ADAMANT ABOUT YOUR MAJOR

You might come to college thinking that you have it all figured out. However, you should keep the possibility open, look around you, take your time to find your true passion. Usually, when freshmen know what they are going to major in, it’s because they go with their parents’ decision. Alternatively, they have chosen their future occupation based on pay. Surely, certain careers tend to have better starting salaries than others, but whether you succeed in the long run depends on your desire to learn more and be better at what you do. That is called passion. That what makes people the best in their field, so choose wisely.

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