The time has nearly arrived! Excitement is rife, and your freshman year is about to be the most important experience of your life. You’re very nearly ready to start flapping your wings to soar away from the nest, so take our advice to make sure you fly high, not fall hard. Stop everything you are doing and master these skills NOW.
Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of what will make you happy, successful and triumphant in your first year. Warning – responsibilities ahead!
Life management
First, you should master life management skills that everyone needs to know. You are about to ride the waves of life solo for probably the first time, so you need to start getting organized and feeling independence. This includes knowing how to budget, how to pay important bills on time, how to access legal documents, all that jazz. Get the financial jargon mastered, even the dreaded word – taxes.
Learning techniques
If you want to settle into your studies straight away, explore and identify the best learning techniques for you. Find out how to use your passion in the right way, and how to squeeze your creative juices into the right holes. Perfect your note-taking, learn how to productively skim-read, master your presentation skills, and try to gain some confidence in group discussions and debates.
Cooking
Unfortunately no more waking up to a breakfast of homemade pancakes that your mom’s made, you’ll have to start making these yourself. If you don’t know even the very basics of cooking, then you should seriously think about brushing up your culinary skills. Try out some healthy recipes and master your favorite dishes.
Domestic chores
If you are sharing a dorm, you need to learn some room etiquette. This means knowing how to clean and tidy the mess you might make, and ensuring that your room and living space is at least liveable. Tidy room means a tidy mind. Also – you need to know the ins and outs and do’s and don’ts of the L WORD. Laundry.
Self-discipline
This is really important if you want to be the best freshman you can be. It’s easy to get carried away with the fun debauchery of college life, and in the first year you have every right to enjoy this aspect of campus, but be careful and make good choices. You need to learn how to prioritize – find the right balance between work life and social life. Basically, know how to always be punctual, gain some self-control and start to really embody the next step in your maturity.
Interpersonal Skills
You are no longer a teenager. You have officially taken your first steps into adulthood. So I’m afraid it’s time to act like it. You need to master the social skills within not just your personal life, but now within the professional world. This generally means knowing how to build and maintain professional relationships to ensure you present yourself as a thoughtful, competent and responsible young adult. Having the right attitude is key!
We hope we didn’t scare you too much with all this responsibility. If you have mastered most of these already, then fantastic! You’re already flying high above the rest. However, if you’re shaking in your boots about what you’ve just read, then get cracking on learning these skills before the big move. Trust us. You’ll be totally grateful you did.
