Things I wish I knew as a freshman

Yesterday classes started back at dear ole UTA and I finally started my senior year! Since this is my *cough* 6th year in college I decided to share somethings I learned in my journey as a professional student that I wish I had known all along!

1: IT'S OK TO GO TO A COMMUNITY COLLEGE FIRST! (It's not grade 13!)
If you look back on my college career you will see I did things way out of order. I went to UNT my first year, made bad grades (see #2), transferred to a community college for two years then went on to UTA. I personally wasn't ready to live on my own and clearly wasn't responsible enough to get myself to class everyday. Plus I missed my mom a lot and spent the majority of that year driving back and forth from Denton to Fort Worth and didn't get much studying done. If I would have just started at a community college I would have saved myself a lot of money and probably would have made much better grades. When deciding your college path do what's right for YOU! Don't let others influence you into making decisions you aren't comfortable with and be confident in that fact that you know what is best for you.

2: GO TO CLASS AND STUDY!!
I know it can be very tempting to sleep in without Mom or Dad there to push you out of bed and off to school in the mornings but chances are you will NOT make the grade you want by skipping class everyday. The grades you make your freshman year will haunt you the rest of your life! Sounds dramatic I know but it's true! Bad grades = low GPA and low GPA's are very hard to raise. Grad school might not seem like something you want at 18 but you might change your mind by the time you're 23/24 and your freshman grades might keep you from getting in the school of your choice or being accepted at all.

3: BE BRAVE AND OPEN TO NEW EXPERIENCES!!
In college you are going to be exposed to all types of people. Don't be scared of what is different from you or what you're use to. There are so many wonderful people who are nothing like you! They may talk or dress or think differently from you but that doesn't mean they're wrong. Have new experiences, try new things! Explore who you are and what you believe, learn new things about yourself. Fall in love with you! And lastly, don't let a relationship consume your whole life! Don't be so attached to your BF/GF that you miss out on new people and experiences. You don't want to look back on your college years and realize you wasted a lot of time on a insignificant person.

4: GET PLUGGED IN!
One of my biggest regrets is not joining a sorority/club/organization in my early years of college. Since I bounced around campuses so much this clearly would have been difficult but if I had established friendships and roots in my first year things might have worked out differently. Universities can be very overwhelming and it can be easy to feel lost in a sea of students without strong friendships. While achieving higher education is your first priority, college should also be fun! Joining a group provides friends, fun and a since of belonging that can be difficult to find your first year on campus.

*inspired by my dear friend Anna. <3 *