“It gives you an opportunity to use the skills you have learned and apply them to real-world experiences.”
Alison Good, Business Administration
September
September finally came, and as I packed up the car and pulled out of my driveway, a tear ran down my cheek. I couldn't figure out why I was crying because I had been preparing myself for school for so long and now the time was here. Then it hit me: I felt like I was walking out on my life. As the car was placed in drive and I watched the empty space between me and the house I'd grown up with increase, I smiled because I realized it wasn't an end to my life, it was a beginning to a new chapter in my life. I'd always lived in my small town in Massachusetts, and I began to wonder what living in New Hampshire was going to be like. The music was turned down low on my ride to school, and I kept asking myself questions. I wondered if people would like me, I wondered if I would like the people I would meet, I thought about the food, the living space, and my roommate. I scared myself to death with my thoughts, and then I realized that I was leaving, there was no turning back, and I was going to have a blast.
The trip was fast- it only took an hour and a half to reach school, something that I never noticed before. As we pulled up to my residence hall and began to unpack, I looked around at the cars of new students and parents unloading supplies and thought to myself, everyone here is going through exactly what I am going through. Leaving my parents was hard, considering everything I am today is because of them. They are, and always have been, a huge part of my life, and I couldn't even predict how life would be without them.
I began to see familiar faces around campus from the New Student Trip I attended in August. This trip was a week long and introduced me to 40 of my fellow classmates. Through different activities including biking, hiking, canoeing, and a low ropes course, we learned to trust one another and work together to finish each activity. I'm very glad that my mother encouraged me to attend this trip. I met so many amazing people that I am still friends with today.
My first weekend on campus was extremely nerve wracking. It was difficult to juggle Orientation activities and meeting people, but it was manageable. In my Orientation Group, I met many people that seemed to be interested in the same topics as me. I realized how important it was for me to be extremely vocal, so I kept starting conversations with people about various topics. Through these chats, I learned that one girl lived down the hall from me, and we've been friends ever since Orientation.
During Orientation, I also met with my academic advisor for the first time. I was nervous to attend the meeting and wondered if I would have a hard time trying to find her office or discussing the classes I had chosen with her. I really enjoyed talking with her and found out that I even had her as a professor! I also met with my Resident Assistant (RA) and my Resident Director (RD) for the first time. I was excited to live in a residence hall. My roommate was nice and we got along well, but it was still hard to adjust that first night. Everyone was a little on edge. No one really knew what to do that first night on campus. I ventured around and met up with the people I got to know on the New Student Trip.
I was really excited to begin classes. The first week was really wild. I had to figure out my sleeping and eating schedule, on top of doing work and keeping my room clean. It was the first time in my life I wasn't told to clean. The laundry piled up in my closet and the bed was left unmade until after class. I realized at that moment that college was going to be so much fun.
When I walked into my first college class, I felt like everyone was staring at me. In reality, they were scouting out people that they thought they could be friends with. No one initiated conversations inside the classroom so it was difficult to talk to people without coming off as annoying. I knew that it was stupid to sit back and watch people walk into the room, so I smiled at people, and said hello to others. Before I knew it, I was sitting with those same people at lunch or walking to other classes I had with them together.
Once college was in full swing, I began to meet other people. It's really crazy the kinds of things that can happen when you don't mean for them to. When you arrive on campus, college is a place full of strangers. Sometimes, you come across some extraordinary, special people. You look at them and realize that they have felt the same way as you- they have cried and they have left people behind just as you have. Everyone you meet just wants someone to talk to, so you show them that you are here to talk and then you meet your friends. Before I knew it, September was coming to an end, and I began to feel comfortable in my new surroundings.
September Tips
Let us call you. This first month is very important because there are so many activities set up for first-year students to get involved in. It is important that you give us enough space so that we go out and meet friends.
Major League Baseball season is in full swing. Send us a package of goodies from our favorite team (even if it isn't the Red Sox!) near the end of the month. College students love getting mail!
Don't tell your child the house is lonely without him or her or that you miss us. This will make us want to come home. It is important for us to establish our own life on campus, and it's imperative to not run away until that life is in place. Remaining on campus for the first couple of months helps to meet new people and attend social events.
Encourage your student to be as outgoing as possible. Have him or her attend events that appeal to him or her, that way he or she will be able to meet people that have the same interests as him or her.
Let your student know that it's more of a challenge to meet people after the first month because other students have already met people to form a group with. Your student should reach out to as many people as possible.
