For just about anyone, going to college involves moving out of their comfort zone, especially if they have to leave their hometown. Every freshman has to face some challenges during their first year in college. Some students have to adapt to a different lifestyle, others struggle with studies. All together this results into frustrating statistics: 28% of students drop out on their first year, and those who stay are overwhelmed by new responsibilities.
High Academic Demands
With only 24 hours in a day, many college students find it extremely hard to take care of your studies on your own and having a social life at the same time. With the overwhelming amount of work to do, it is common for students to find themselves lagging behind for a number of reasons.
- Taking up too many courses. The vast majority of freshmen have a rather vague picture of their future, therefore, they are eager to try out multiple areas of expertise. You realize that you may have applied to more courses than you can handle when hardly any of them has enough credits to be closed.
- Wrong predictions and assessments. As many students tend to spend less time on studies during the beginning and the middle of the semester, their assignments accumulate. It is a process that happens gradually and very few college students, especially freshmen, realize what is approaching until it is nearly too late.
- Exhaustion. As a matter of fact, student life involves a lot of coffee and sleepless nights. After a few all-nighters, your productivity tends to drop and all your body wants is some sleep. At this point, some college students seek help from their busy groupmates, others start to google who can write my essay for me or at least provide well-written samples of courseworks, homework assignments and lab reports.
- Plagiarism. There is also a risk of getting into troubles with plagiarism issues, as the professor is likely to tell your thoughts and writing style from your groupmates’. Besides, most of the academic papers are being checked in Turnitin. The consequences may vary from college to college. In any case, they will not have a positive impact on your academic career.
Speaking of studies, college professors are way more strict than school teachers in terms of deadlines and the quality of research. This should not come as a surprise that the amount of assignments, as well as their difficulty, increases as you progress in your academic career.
New Surroundings, New Duties
One of the most common challenges for college students is adapting to the new environment they are in. Moving into the dorms with people you have never met before is only half of it. Living in a dorm involves several things that you must do on a daily basis.
- Cooking. Not so long ago, your parents were making sure you were fed. Now it is up to you to take care of your food. Make sure you eat something but pizza and burgers.
- Cleaning. Keeping your room clean may not sound like much of a problem until you face the dust and leftovers in a couple of weeks. It is much better to prevent this.
- Time-management. Add studies and parties, and possibly video games, and you may just find yourself overwhelmed with different activities and completely out of time. Plan your time before parting.
Handling Financial Issues
When faced with a multitude of essential expenditures approaching, some students end up spending too much money on either entertainment or accomodation. It is also common for a freshman not to have much financial aid from state or their families.
In fact, 40% of undergraduates work 30 hours/week to sustain. Needless to say, these 30 (give or take) hours per week have negative impact on student academic performance and may result into being expelled. The only optimal way to get through these college years is to apply for a scholarship beforehand. Otherwise, one has to store up some funds before they start studying.
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Conclusion
College can be a challenge. It often involves moving away from home, venturing into the unknown, leaving the your comfort zone and going into the world. It also involves hard work, and proper time management. College years offer exciting and rewarding experiences as it is the time when you are going to party the most and make new friends. Don’t let yourself be overwhelmed with studies, with a little perseverance and time management, you can make college one of the best experiences of your life.
