Freshmen share ways to navigate college’s first year

By Lynne Conner for Chronicle Media

College freshmen Austin Clemens at University of Dayton in Ohio

College testing, senior portraits, prom and the strains of Pomp and Circumstance are now a distant memory for last year’s high school graduates.

Many of these young adults have now negotiated to move into a dormitory, managed their first college classes, made new friends and took semester exams.

With some college experience now under their belts, three northern Illinois students — Suzanne Russo, Austin Clemens and Kate McCarthy — recently offered insights and advice on surviving college life.

Russo, 2017 salutatorian at Guilford High School in Rockford, just finished her first semester at the University of Minnesota.  She’s attending the school on a full scholarship to study biomedical engineering and credited trips to Japan and Italy along with month-long stays in South Korea and Spain with helping her adjust to college life.

“When I was on the foreign trips, I was always with someone or a host family…it’s kind of the same way at college, because I have a roommate and I’m with her a lot of the time,” she said.  “But at the same time, when you’re in a new place, you’re out of your comfort zone and you are getting used to the flow of things.  That was my experience this whole first semester of college.  I was out of my comfort zone, everything is new and I didn’t know where anything was.”

Russo admits to being a little overwhelmed when she arrived at Minnesota, but participating in some student activities prior to starting classes helped her to become better acquainted with the campus and meet her roommate.

“The Society of Women Engineers had an event and I was in a group with this girl, Emma.  We got to know each other and just kind of clicked so we decided to be roommates,” Russo said.

Russo said that social media apps like Facebook also helped facilitate the roommate search.

“My experience of finding a roommate at an activity before school started was pretty unique.  Everyone I’ve talked to who chose a roommate beforehand used social media,” she said.

For the most part, Russo said she felt academically prepared for college classes and that being self-motivated is crucial to a successful college experience.

“You have to do things for yourself,” she said. “There is no one telling you what to do, you have to keep on top of things yourself, which is different than high school.  I felt pretty well prepared (for college) by some of my science classes in high school

First-year college student Suzanne Russo attends University of Minnesota.

and I decided to take some college courses that I had opted out of as sort of a refresher.”

The best advice that Russo can give to students starting college is: “Don’t worry about finding friends when you first arrive on campus.  I was really worried about that; but making friends just comes naturally because everyone is looking to find friends, and it just happens,” she said.  “Start off strong academically because many future opportunities are based on your GPA and your involvement in extra-curricular clubs.”  Russo is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and Engineering World Health.

Now a seasoned sophomore at the University of Dayton, Clemens already had a unique perspective on college life, having survived his freshman year.  Clemens was somewhat familiar with Dayton as two of his older siblings attended college there, but he was determined to forge his own path.

“It was nice for me, as a freshman, to have a brother that was a senior, because there was that little peace of mind, but I definitely wanted to branch out and meet new people,” he said.  “It felt like first grade all over again. I had to learn my way around a new city and adjust to being seven hours away from home.”

Clemens is majoring in mechanical engineering but lived on a floor with business majors during his freshman year.

“Unlike most college students, who find roommates through social media, I didn’t know my freshman year roommate before college started,” he said.  “We got along fine, neither of us was too picky and he is still a good friend of mine. I’m very happy that I got a random roommate last year, because it definitely worked out and all of my best friends are from that floor.  I was really happy with the way it turned out.”

This year, Clemens is living in an apartment with four other males that he met in the dorms last year.

“It’s nice that there is more living space for us this year,” he said. “Living in the dorms is great for meeting people, but, after a full year of the dorms, I got sick of it.”

Self-motivation and organization are keys to academic success according to Clemens.

“I had to snap into it and get organized when I started college,” Clemens said.

The Boylan High School graduate credits his prior schooling with helping him in college.

“I think most Catholic schools set you up pretty well for being on top of things,” he said. “In grade school, we were forced to write down our assignments, at Boylan, it was encouraged and from there it is pretty much a habit for me now.  Being organized helps immensely in college.”

When he’s not hitting the books, Clemens enjoys being a member of the Baja team, a group of all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts.  He is also a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.

Oswego High School grad Kate McCarthy now marches with the Illinois State Marching Band as a freshman.

Furthering her education and learning life lessons along the way have been the theme of McCarthy’s first semester at Illinois State University.

The communications major from Oswego said her independent, self-sufficient personality helped her handle living away from home and making new friends.  Adjusting to the faster pace of college academics, McCarthy said, was challenging at first.

“I definitely didn’t expect this much of an academic workload,” she said. “I knew that it was going to be more than high school, but I don’t think high school prepared me for the amount of work in college. In high school, I didn’t have to work too hard or study that much, but in college, it’s like they stuff 10 chapters into one semester.  Studying for finals in college was different than in high school and a lot more challenging.”

McCarthy said that social media played a big part in helping her find a good roommate freshman year.

“I really lucked out.  I downloaded Schools App which is a social media tool specifically for college students that connects you with other students at your school who need roommates or just want to find some friends.”

She and her roommate both play flute in the ISU marching band but have different majors.

“It is working out really well, because our schedules are pretty similar and it was nice going into marching band with a friend.  I’m so glad I didn’t have a horror story about the whole roommate situation.”

Time management and handling the freedom that comes with living away from homes taught McCarthy how to better prioritize her time.

“Sometimes, I would hang out with my friends or go out to eat; then I would get back to my dorm room and realize that I should have worked on a paper or studied for a test,” she said.  “This happened more at the beginning of the semester when I was getting used to everything; but towards the end of the semester, I learned how to better balance schoolwork and social activities.”

McCarthy also said that the temptation to spend time on social media instead of studying is something that many college students struggle with.

“It takes self-discipline to stay off of Facebook or Twitter when I need to study.”

“College is a lot better in ways that you don’t expect and college is a lot harder in ways that you don’t expect,” McCarthy said.  “College is mentally hard, because you are away from your parents, your high school friends and your pets.  (But) college is also great because you make new friends and you have different experiences that you never would have had before.  It’s a whole new world.”

 

 

 

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