Three weeks ago, families descended on Newton and Upper campuses to drop off their new students. Mothers made beds, tucking the sheets in tightly, not wanting to leave their babies just yet. Fathers helped re-arrange the few pieces of furniture multiple times, until it was just perfect for their kids. Finally, they had to leave; their freshmen were now alone in the big bad world that is college.
How did they fare? Did they learn to do their own laundry? Did they separate the lights and the darks to keep the colors crisp, or did they just shove it all into the open machine to save the extra $1.50? Did they make sure to eat healthily: going to the dining hall for full meals a couple times a day, not just snacking at Late Night? Have they woken themselves up on time and gotten to their classes?
These are all concerns facing college students, especially freshmen who may be on their own for the first time. Some have had some experience with some of the pieces, perhaps even all of them. But for most college freshmen being away from home for so long is new, and they have to figure it out as they go.
Freshmen are alone, away from their families and friends who have surrounded them for years, but at the same time, together with about 2,300 other people in the same boat. For some, that number is the biggest adjustment in itself. John Delfino, A&S '12, says, "I came from a smaller school of 600 kids, so this is a big change."
The sheer amount of new people leads to another anxiety: meeting people. Terry Jacques, A&S '12, says, "The hardest thing is having no friends at all coming in and having to meet everyone." Ah yes, the blessing/curse that is freshman year: knowing no one. It is very intimidating, but at the same time a great opportunity. These are not the same people who have known you since kindergarten and know every dumb thing you have ever done. You get to make new impressions and meet new people. Not again, until you graduate, do you have the chance to make as many new friends.
Theresa Donohue, A&S '11, advised freshmen, "Don't be afraid to go up and talk to people. The first day of classes I ate lunch with a group of random people, because no one had any groups to eat with. In general, don't be afraid to talk to people: other freshmen, but also professors and RAs. At one point last year, I was stressed out and went to talk to one of my professors about being overwhelmed. We talked and I felt better, and I kept going back to him. It helps to have someone to talk to, everyone had that freak- out moment and there are people to help you."
Many freshmen, trying to avoid that very moment or as a result of it, have found new routines to follow so they can keep up with the amount of work and manage the "free" time. Dan Golder, A&S '12, says, "I have become more organized. I use the calendar in my phone to keep track because I have so many things to do." Others use daily agendas, the stickies application on their MacBooks, or just post-it notes stuck to their desks. Many organizational tactics keep students on top of their work.
"I just schedule myself completely because I find the less free time I have to do something, the more likely I am to do it," Delfino says. This is a popular technique, in which most students believe. The benefit and necessity of planning ahead also becomes evident as freshmen get used to college life. "I have to think about things ahead a lot more. Now, on Sunday I have to think about what is happening on Thursday, because there is so much more happening," Golder says.
Freshmen have to learn quickly how to manage their time in order to complete all the work professors throw at them. They also must adjust to depending on themselves and self-motivating to keep moving and not taking that tempting nap when they have reading and a paper due.
Jeff Davis, A&S '12, says, "Seeing as I have already overslept through class, I learned that you really have no one other than yourself to rely on. It is a big difference from having your family to help. For me, it's a mental reconfiguration. I tell myself that I'm the only one responsible for what I do or do not do, so I really need to be on point."
For some, this "reconfiguration" is easier than others. It depends on just how much of the self-reliance is new. "I did my own laundry at home, so that is the same for me. But you see some people who do not even know how to do laundry," Golder says.
Laundry is not the only new task with which people struggle to find a routine. "I have seen a lot of people who do not look like they are going to make it, eating 10 meals a day," Delfino says. Those many meals a day, especially when they are greasy burgers and Late Night onion rings, are one contributor to the infamous freshman-15 (another being the weekend beverages). Some freshmen have never been fully responsible for their own meals and do not know how to create a balanced diet of what and when to eat.
Eventually, everyone falls into a routine that works for him or her. You learn how and when to do laundry, how to best utilize your meal plan, the best ways to make and keep new friends, and to balance the amount of work and unstructured time. All new freshmen will learn and become sophomores. Then they will look at the class of '13 and laugh when they take a tray in the dining hall.
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