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A year of lessons

The top four things first year has taught me

As I glance around my room, looking at my various pictures and other college memorabilia, I cannot believe my first year is almost over. While first semester seemed somewhat long, second semester flew by quickly. Nevertheless, a lot of things have happened in my life throughout first year, despite its brevity. From making new friends to pulling several all-nighters, I have had my fair share of both good and bad experiences. Now, as I reflect upon my first year as a whole, I realize these experiences have taught me some very important things. The following are some lessons I would like to not only apply to the rest of my college career but also share with students of all years, as we take on the various challenges of college together.

1. Budget your homework time

Even though I finish my classes in the early afternoon, I found it is easy to overestimate the time I have to do my work. The five, six or even seven hours I have between my last class and my other time commitments seem like a lot of time; however, they can fly by quickly if I spend too much time on social media, take a long nap or succumb to another distraction, forcing me to finish my work late at night. In order to properly budget my time, I now make weekly homework schedules. To keep myself from getting distracted, I sometimes use the “Do Not Disturb” feature on my phone and work in a quiet area. Though some assignments take me longer to complete than expected and require me to adjust my schedule, these practices ultimately help me to get my most important tasks done on time.

2. FOMO is real

Every student receives a weekly email from U.Va. Student Affairs listing the various events of that week. While it is great U.Va. always has something going on, it is easy for students, especially first-years, to get a sense of FOMO — fear of missing out. Being bombarded by tablers on Central Grounds and seeing other students post about doing fun things on social media certainly does not help combat this feeling. FOMO ultimately makes students feel that they need to attend as many concerts, parties and other events as they can in order to get the full college experience. I certainly felt this way during my first semester, which caused me to fill my nights and weekends with various, sometimes unnecessary, events and activities.

In some ways FOMO is justified. After all, college years fly by fast, and it is necessary for students to give themselves a break from school. However, academics should be students’ top priority in college, requiring them to properly balance their time between fun things and schoolwork. I must admit this is a lesson I am still working on and I do sometimes set homework aside in order to hang out with friends. Nevertheless, I have gradually gotten better at prioritizing my assignments and, by continuing to stick to my schedule and avoiding distractions, hope to work late into the night less often in the future.

3. Take advantage of opportunities

No matter how busy you think you are with homework and social events, it is important to take advantage of the many opportunities U.Va. has to offer. Although I joined several organizations during my first semester, I did not become highly involved in any of them or apply for a position of leadership, afraid that it would be too much for me to handle or that I would not be accepted. This left me with a good amount of free time to do homework, meet new people and explore college life. But by second semester I knew that I needed to take better advantage of my time at U.Va. I tried out for more of my dance club’s dances, joined The Cavalier Daily and applied for two leadership positions and an on-Grounds summer job. While this left me with less free time, I found being involved to be very fulfilling and plan to join several more clubs and programs during my second year.

4. Be cautious of others

Perhaps the most important lesson first year has taught me is to be cautious of others. Though there are many great people at U.Va., I have learned to be mindful of those with whom I associate. Not everyone here is good for me to be around or has my best interests at heart. Instead, I should only befriend those who care about my well-being and accept me for who I am. Though it took me some time to grow close to them, I now have several good friends who do this and much more. With them I am not only able to talk about my problems but also be myself. While we do not agree on everything, we work together to support and help each other through college’s various struggles. Overall, I am very grateful to have these friends in my life and look forward to continuing my U.Va. journey with them by my side.

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