Listen Here
By: Collin Frazier
@Collin_53
One of the biggest aspects of college is adjusting to the new routine students will have to undergo to be successful. This can include how to study differently, when to go to bed, or meeting new people. For some, the adjustment has come and gone, and they are in a new routine. Others, they are still in an adjustment period. If you are a Freshman still learning to adjust, remember; as hard as it may seem, it does get better. Here are how some Freshmen are adjusting to the new life ahead of them.
Courtney Fox, a Pharmacy major, never believed that adjusting to college would be that hard. She now realizes she was wrong.
“The biggest transition is probably how hard it [college] is [compared] to high school,” Fox said. “In the pharmacy program, my courses are super hard for me…. You have to study a lot more. There’s never any free time because you’re always studying.”
Lilly Swails, an Environmental, Safety and Occupational Health Sustainability (ESOH) major, has found that managing different aspects of life is a difficult part of college, especially managing school and work life.
“I think the biggest transition is trying to figure out work, and school, and social life and everything because it’s more of a time-cruncher,” Swails said. “It [work] gets in the way a lot. I have a roommate who goes to bed early, so I get off of work and she’s already in bed and I have to study.”
With the tough courses ahead of her, Fox had to completely change her study routine, which used to be next to none, she says.
“I didn’t really study much in high school,” stated Fox. “Now I have to all the time, so I’ve been trying different things; [like] flash cards, group studying works for big ideas, but when you’re focusing on the little stuff, I have to be quiet so I can hear my own thoughts.” Some places that Fox goes to study include her dorm, COB, and the Pharmacy building.
Unlike Fox, Swails’ study habits have stayed consistent since high school (in what she says “drill into my brain 3 or 4 times”), Swails also has some areas she prefers to study in, including her dorm and having a study group with fellow ESOH students at George House Coffee.
Even with the stress coming from school, Fox has managed to alleviate it by applying for a fraternity campus.
“I’m a pledge for the Pharmacy Fraternity, AZΩ [Alpha Zeta Omega],” Fox said. “I really didn’t think I’d do any of that stuff, but I think it’s a good way to meet the upperclassmen and get an idea on what to do for future semesters and what classes to take and what not to take. And [it’s] also a good way to make friends because you go into it [college] without any friends and you have to make new friends.”
Along with Fox, Swails has found joining clubs a way to help her adjust to college life.
“I joined both of the clubs offered by my major,” said Swails. “It’s getting us in touch with more of the older kids in the major and it’s good networking too. I think they’ve impacted [me] pretty positively. I really haven’t had a big negative effect [from it] other than ‘Hey, you just got out of seminar, now you gotta stay over’ but it’s not that bad.”
