First, you’ll need to build friendships. When you first arrive at your new home just a week or two before your classes begin, you’ll likely be disoriented by what you find. Your freshman class will be diverse beyond your wildest expectations, stocked with bright-eyed transplants from across the country and beyond. Worse, you’ll be without solid social moorings for the first time in several years.

To make these all-important first connections, it pays to be outgoing. Offer to sit with unaccompanied fellow students in your dining hall and go out of your way to join extracurricular organizations like the school newspaper or debate club. Likewise, club-level and intramural sports are a great way to get out and meet like-minded peers.

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Stay True to Yourself

While it’s often said that college is the perfect place to push the limits of socially-acceptable practices and “try new things,” you shouldn’t participate in unsafe or illegal activities simply to gain social acceptance. The process of self-discovery involves discipline as well as curiosity: Learning how to https://en.writingapaper.net/college-paper-help/ say “no” when things get out of hand is just as important as learning when to jump head-first into a friendly, if unfamiliar, social situation.

No matter how rich your university’s on-campus life can be, you’ll benefit from regular trips out into the wider world. Once you’ve gotten yourself into a social groove on campus, start exploring the environment that surrounds it.

Start Close to Home

Whether your college occupies an urban enclave or forms the focal point of a small town, the area around campus probably houses its fair share of restaurants, bars and boutiques. Invite a few friends out for an afternoon of dining and shopping, expanding your collective comfort zone by trying a new type of food or venturing into a new-age shop.