No matter how close to home your college may be, it might seem like you’re a thousand miles from home – and for some students, they really are. High school seniors frequently find themselves beginning college with little guidance, maybe due to a lack of confidence or merely a lack of advice.
Conrad Squittieri ’25 spent his freshman year at the University of Utah, which meant he moved to the other side of the country with little experience in independent living and nobody coming with him for support, which can often be overwhelming for an 18-year-old.
“I met people through roommates I had down the hall, and just by being social,” Squittieri said. “If you put effort out, you’re going to find people with similar interests.”
Freshmen need to focus not only on the new challenges they’re facing, such as meeting new people and adapting to a new schedule, but also on the basic routines they had before.
“Don’t skip classes,” Squittieri said. “Once you start skipping classes, you won’t stop. I did that a lot, and it was a bad habit.”
Tommy Caulfield ’24, a sophomore studying engineering at the University of Michigan, didn’t travel far from home, but still had to learn how to be on his own without the immediate guidance of his family and friends.
“I would say you kind of find a rhythm when getting involved in a lot of things,” Caulfield said. “If you realize you need to drop something in order to focus more on school, or pick [something] up because you have a ton of free time, I think it is pretty easy to find a schedule.”
Students tend to stress over meeting people and their schedules being busier, but the students who are living through mostly agree that it will all come naturally and can easily be adjusted.
“I think people naturally come together through either clubs or classes,” Caulfield said. “I had really no problem. I just went to stuff and attended my classes, talked to people within my classes and stuff, and I found a lot of good friends.”
Similar to Squittieri studying in Utah, Lucy Tull ’26, a freshman at Santa Clara University, flew out to the far-away land of California to study her double major in public health science and anthropology. Tull was certainly stressed when packing her bags to go west, but sees equal excitement in the introduction to the college experience.
“I really enjoyed trying a lot of different things,” Tull said. “I think just trying out a lot of things is really beneficial for meeting new people, figuring out your major and honestly just enjoying yourself because it can be hard when you first get to school.”
There are many ways students can put themselves out there and get to know people who are also in college for the first time; Tull urges rising college students to take advantage of their opportunities and simply let their guard down a little.
“Don’t let your social anxiety control you too much,” Tull said. “Everybody’s kind of feeling nervous, so you kind of have to take control and say hi, that’s how I met some of my closest friends.”
