1. You don’t need to be best friends with your roommate!
Reading this, you guys may laugh in my face, because your new living companion may just be your complete opposite.
The nice person that you found on Facebook who likes Netflix and food and also wants to rush could be rooming with you for the next four years. I suppose that is a bit extreme, but that’s how it seems to everyone in the beginning.
However, you will be spending a lot of time together with your roommate, and sometimes the closeness of proximity can cause issues to arise over little things. Maybe you got into a sorority or fraternity the other one wanted to or made other new friends that they don’t know. The limit of petty things to fight over doesn’t exist.
If you’re lucky, you’ll last until the middle of second semester, but for most of you who are still slightly delusional about your new roomie, good luck!
2. The best friendships can be made by doing things outside your comfort zone.
Don’t be afraid to hang out with different groups of people. Your first week, you will have met hundreds of people and probably won’t remember any names. That’s OK! The first couple weeks, everyone struggles to weed out the casual friendships to create the group of people you’ll one day call squad. Don’t be alarmed if you don’t find your squad the first semester of freshman year.
3. Join! Join! Join!
Last week, everyone signed up for a bunch of clubs at Tiger Prowl. Here’s a hint: you don’t need to join every one of them (except for The Tiger — join that one). Find the one that really interests you and devote time to it.
Personally, I made most of my friends freshman year from joining the club softball team. Joining clubs can especially be important if you’re not rushing. It allows you to get more involved, meet like-minded people, and it looks great on a resumé.
4. Don’t underestimate how hard your first semester will be.
Yes, I know everyone has been stressing this constantly since orientation, but your first semester will be one of your hardest ones. Even if you think you’ve got it, you probably don’t. You really do need to study more than high school.
Seek out and utilize Clemson’s many academic resources. If you’re taking Chemistry 1010, go to PAL sessions. If you’re in Physics 2070, go to the ASC. Psychology students can use the many extra credit opportunities given throughout the semester.
5. Go to the job fair.
Most freshman don’t do this because they think it won’t be beneficial, or they just don’t know about it.
Yes, I know it depends on your degree if companies hire freshman for internships, but going and networking with companies is a great way to better prepare yourself for interviews in the future. I was lucky enough to get offered an internship last year from a job fair, and it really was a beneficial experience because it put me ahead of the curve in my classes. Going to the job fair can prove to be invaluable for your professional future.
6. Don’t let a girlfriend or boyfriend hinder the experience of your freshman year of college.
Some of you have come into your freshman year in a serious relationship from high school. This can be either amazing or a total strain. It will be hard on the relationship, especially if you are going to different schools. You may not want to go out because you feel your partner won’t like that, or you might get jealous of the multiple party pics you find of your partner on Instagram.
My advice is to really discuss what’s OK and what’s not with your partner. I’ve seen it happen so many times where someone misses out because of a relationship. Don’t let that be you.
7. The first months will be hard but… DON’T BLAME CLEMSON.
I might sound like a broken record, but the first semester of college will be one of your hardest academically and socially. You and your roommate may not get along, you’ll miss your partner and you may even want to switch majors.
Loads of people go through this their first couple months. Don’t confuse your discontent towards your social situation with Clemson. Clemson has over 20,000 students, so just because one relationship doesn’t work out doesn’t mean that others won’t.
A very important note: you will probably take some boring classes freshman year. Those entry-level sciences and Gen Eds will be boring and brutal. Don’t let this be what defines your major. Most people don’t like the classes they take freshman year, but just wait until you get into your major classes to choose if you want to stick with your major or not.