A Little Bit Nervous About College

[Genocidicbunny]

Well I usually relive my monstrous sleep debt by sleeping 13-15 hours on the weekends.

If that works for you, cool. I did that for about a month in my junior year or HS, where I slept 3 hours a night, and then nearly 16 hours on weekends. I ended up getting pretty sick from that, and as such havent done it since then.

Oh yeah, thats another bit. Take care of your health. You dont have a mommy and daddy to take care of you when you get sick. Hopefully you got a few friends you can trust with yourself when you're not in any condition to make decisions ( drunk, sick, etc)

 

[Gwyddelig]

Some good advice in here but I'm going to add a small bit of info.

You will party too much
You will do stupid stuff
You will miss class from time to time
You will take a hit in some grades (the trick is knowing when this is important)
You will wake up next to some young wan/fellah and go, "Ohsheet". Probably more than once. So long as everybody takes the necessary precautions then no harm-no foul.
You will make some of the most enduring friendships of your life
You will do things you'll regret but also things you wouldn't change for the world. Often the two go hand-in-hand.

Fortunately for you, growing up and becoming an adult is something that happens naturally enough. Sure, the sudden hit of absolute freedom at university goes straight to some peoples' heads and they crash & burn but these people tend to arrive at college going, "OMG!1!!1111!!!! I'm at teh Uni!! MEGALOLZ!!!!!" rather than being thoughtful about their responsibilities, like you appear to be. You'll be just fine if you keep that sense of perspective.

As people have said, join Clubs/Socs FTW and don't be afraid to chat. Don't be surprised either if you don't make really good friends until next year. The first 2-3 months are a little crazy like that as everyone tries to find people they'll get on with long term. You will find these people and together you'll have an absolute blast while being educated.

All the best and beir búa (rough translation: grab the win). This will be some of the best few years of your life.

 

[Red Door]

Again, depends on the person. Ive been doing it for nearly a year now, and yes, i feel tired sometimes, but thats mainly when I go to bed at 4 am and have to be up before 12. I work best later in the day, as even when I get 9 hours of sleep per night, I dont feel great in the morning. Wake me up before 10am, and no matter how long I slept the night before, ill feel like poo poo.

Same here. My best working times are 8pm-4 am. At which point I sleep from 4 till about 9:30 am usually. I feel tired earlier in the day but that wears off. I've been doing this for almost 2 years now.

I'm not going to get into a big debate about what your individual body is meant to do and not. However, the evolutionary progress of the human body was meant to sleep during the hours it is dark (approximately 8 PM-6 AM). Your mind has more trouble focusing during those hours and you will certainly be more tired at those hours than any other time. It's scientific research behind this, not just me talking out of my ass.

 

[mrt144]

I'm not going to get into a big debate about what your individual body is meant to do and not. However, the evolutionary progress of the human body was meant to sleep during the hours it is dark (approximately 8 PM-6 AM). Your mind has more trouble focusing during those hours and you will certainly be more tired at those hours than any other time. It's scientific research behind this, not just me talking out of my ass.

Next you'll be telling them there's a reason that people have to poop in the morning.

 

[azzaman333]

I never have to poop in the morning.

Your pretty picture is invalid.

 

[mrt144]

I never have to poop in the morning.

Your pretty picture is invalid.

That's because it's based on Pacific Standard Time. Duh.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I'm not going to get into a big debate about what your individual body is meant to do and not. However, the evolutionary progress of the human body was meant to sleep during the hours it is dark (approximately 8 PM-6 AM). Your mind has more trouble focusing during those hours and you will certainly be more tired at those hours than any other time. It's scientific research behind this, not just me talking out of my ass.

And as with almost anything, there are outliers. I know when I focus the best, because I've tried both ways, so its not just me talking out of my ass.

 

[Abaddon]

Get very drunk
Sleep with some other very drunk and worried-she-won't-be-accepted girl
have a 2 week relationship
get dumped
live in your dorm room, crying over this lost love
graduate and hope real life is different.























JOKES!


I had a fricking awesome time. Just RELAX!

 

[Kal'thzar]

I talked to a lot of people. Scared the majority (if you can't take a dead baby joke and realise I'm BSing you then no, we're probably not going to be great friends), was halfway through freshers week before the whole "what are you studying" started destroying my mind. If you can come up with a nice spin on it, all the better, if not don't worry everyone does it at some point, Have the confidence to realise that everyone else is like you, and if you pay close attention you can tell who is acting out to try and "fit" into what their pre-conceived notions of College/Uni are.

I would truly advise you to attend every single one of your lectures, and personally I cannot stand paper pads, I always lose half the lectures this way, nowadays I write in a jotter/book and don't lose anything.

Oh and do something you enjoy.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

I'm not going to get into a big debate about what your individual body is meant to do and not. However, the evolutionary progress of the human body was meant to sleep during the hours it is dark (approximately 8 PM-6 AM). Your mind has more trouble focusing during those hours and you will certainly be more tired at those hours than any other time. It's scientific research behind this, not just me talking out of my ass.

Nonsense
The "biological watch" inside of human being is very flexible. In fact when you sit in a dark box your sleep-rhythm will get totally different, but you will still have one.
Further on it's a scientific fact that some people are more productive in the later ours.

My advice (though I don't attend an US-American university): Use practical tips like becoming a member of a club and ignore those stereotypical blathering like "keep an open mind" and "be yourself". They are true, indeed very true, but that does not help and I am sure you know that anyway. Instead based on those practical tips you'll have to find your own way to manage fitting your character and your psych. No way around it.
Just beware that this "way" will not just pop up, you have to look for it by acting and experimentation.

Anyhow, I wish you the best luck

 

[DMOC]

I had to get 4 hours of sleep for the month before AP's in junior year ... never going to happen again, not incollege too. Looks like I hve time management skills to work on.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I had to get 4 hours of sleep for the month before AP's in junior year ... never going to happen again, not incollege too. Looks like I hve time management skills to work on.

Namely that you need to study a bit more during the rest of the year. The only AP test I studied for is Calculus BC. Irnocally, that is also my lowest AP score, a 3. Bio, Chem, CS and etc were all 5's

 

[Hygro]

GO TO THE GYM oh my god go as often as you possibly can.




And listen to Downtown.

 

[Fifty]

Don't listen to any advice here except advice given by me, perfy, or dt.

 

[Nylan]

Some good advice in here but I'm going to add a small bit of info.

You will party too much
You will do stupid stuff
You will miss class from time to time
You will take a hit in some grades (the trick is knowing when this is important)
You will wake up next to some young wan/fellah and go, "Ohsheet". Probably more than once. So long as everybody takes the necessary precautions then no harm-no foul.
You will make some of the most enduring friendships of your life
You will do things you'll regret but also things you wouldn't change for the world. Often the two go hand-in-hand.

Apparently, I still haven't started university. And I was having such a great time, too...

 

[Bigfoot3814]

I'm about halfway through my first semester at college.

I'm a little worried about making friends,

You'll make tons of friends. Especially right at the beginning, most people don't know anybody and everybody wants to make friends, so just be friendly and talk to people. One tip if you live at school: Keep your door open. You can get to know a lot of people in your dorm neighborhood this way, which I find very valuable. It's how I met my girlfriend, in fact.

You should also join at least one club. Instant friends really unless you're a big jerk of some kind. And if you are one of those, you can always join a frat. (small joke)

keeping up with my schoolwork,

Some people said cut back on video games, which is definitely going to help. I also recommend you cut back on your internet time. This is only the 2nd or 3rd post I've made in the past 2 months, which is huge considering how much I posted all last summer and when I was in high school.

I also suggest you do as much of your work as possible in the library. I find there are far too many distractions in the dorm to get things done efficiently. Going somewhere quiet by myself lets me focus a whole lot better.

being healthy,

How much of a problem this is depends on a lot of things. What kind of food you can get, what kind of gym they have, etc. I've lost weight since I've been here but I don't go to the gym or eat very healthily. I don't snack as much as I used to and do a lot more walking though. What happens to some people is that they come into college having played a sport in high school that they don't continue with (college sports are a humongous commitment btw, a lot different from high school unless you do intramurals or club sports).

managing the new independence, etc.

There's a lotta new independence. You can basically do whatever the eff you want. It ties in with every one of your other worries too. Some kids go crazy and screw things up for themselves. I know very smart people here who probably aren't going to pass classes this semester because they goofed off too much. So try not to do that.

That being said, hell, it's tons of fun being on your own and doing whatever the eff you want. Just have some priorities and self control most of the time and you'll be fine. I personally find time management easier here than it was in high school. WAY less time in class, and I'm already falling into a pretty solid groove.

Best of luck, hope you won't need it!

 

[Hygro]

GO TO THE GYM oh my god go as often as you possibly can.

^^^

This is really good advice. You should listen to that guy.