I’d like to believe that I went into college knowing what was ahead of me. With two older siblings, I had started touring colleges in middle school and saw my brother enter and graduate college (ignoring the fact that I missed my brother’s graduation ceremony because I was traveling abroad with classmates and teachers from a small art academy I attended) before my own college journey.
Halfway through my freshman year of college, COVID-19 hit. I remember walking down the halls days before lockdown was announced and hearing news about how the schools around mine were closing and going remote. I heard people talking about how mine would shut down soon, to follow the example of the others, even before official announcements were made, and packing up my clothes and flying back home, only to drive eight hours to completely move out of my dorm room the next day. I didn’t have a desk at home with enough privacy to attend class, so I took over half of the dining room table, notebooks and textbooks spread out on the table. If there was one thing I knew, it was that I was lucky. I had gotten the first semester in person, and that meant I had some semblance of friends and knew the people in my classes. So my tip is: make friends and keep them. I had trouble with this, and often refer to people as ‘class friends’ because my only interactions with them tend to be in academic settings. Do better than me.
Aside from the (obvious) advice to make friends, one other piece of advice I’d also give is: find opportunities and take them. Whether that opportunity is studying abroad for a semester, taking a class with a professor you like simply to connect with them more, submitting work to publications, or applying for internships even if you feel unqualified. One of my goals when I went to college was to study abroad. Neither of my siblings had managed to despite wanting to, and I was determined to make it happen. And while I was reluctant to study abroad during my senior year (as there is something about being on your home campus for your final year), I knew that I would rather spend half my senior year abroad and worry about how the credits would transfer than miss out on the opportunity to experience something new. So if you have a goal in mind for your years spent at college, work for it. It might not work out, but hey, at least you tried. One more thing: don’t procrastinate essays you aren’t looking forward to. Spending eight hours a day for three days staring at a laptop in a school library isn’t my idea of fun, and I doubt it’s yours.
If I could tell my high-school senior self one thing, it would be this: There’s no right or wrong way to experience college. Make it your own.