Coming into college life for the first time, one might be terrified of the unknowns (how to bond with your roommate, ways to stay involved) and the inevitable (keeping yourself healthy, struggling with your study skills). We’re here to soothe you from that anxiety! Here are some well-worn and trusted tips and tricks to surviving your freshman year at UNH, addressing topics from accidentally sleeping through your 8 a.m. class to being alone on a Friday night.
Staying happy and healthy: One of the most important things, if not the most important, is to stay healthy both mentally and physically. Your first time stepping onto a college campus can be fun, yet stressful and overwhelming, and recognizing those feelings is important. If you feel stressed, take a break from what you are doing and relax. For me, sometimes talking a walk, shower, or even putting on a face mask will help reduce my stress. We also have awesome support services on campus if you want to talk to a professional. Second, get enough sleep. Sometimes, I stay up late at night to study or finish my homework. This messes up my sleep schedule and throws me off balance for the next couple of days, leaving me feeling exhausted and unmotivated. Getting a healthy amount of sleep will help your body and mind reset and get ready for the next day. Another thing to mention is staying active. Walking to class is awesome, but maybe try going to the gym and playing basketball, taking a bike ride in College Woods or a kickboxing class in our Hamel Recreation Center! Staying active makes you feel better and productive! Lastly, I want to talk about food. We all love food and the places in downtown Durham are amazing. I eventually learned that I need to focus on my diet while I am at school. I can’t just eat pasta and pizza every day. It’s important to be mindful of what you’re putting in your body.
Getting your head in the game: Beyond Division 1 collegiate sports, UNH offers club and intramural sports. Club sports are similar to Division 1 sports in that they host practices and games throughout the week. However, they are played at different levels depending on the sport. On the other hand, intramural sports are just for fun. Unlike Division 1 and club sports, you can form a team with a group of friends and play more casually. My favorite intramural sport is broomball. You are playing hockey on the Whittemore Center ice, with a broom and ball instead of a hockey stick and puck, while also wearing normal sneakers rather than skates. If you cannot guess, you do sometimes fall down and you can get bruised, but I think it is a lot of fun to try and walk/run on the ice while also trying to play hockey. So, if you are looking to alternatives to Division 1 sports, UNH offers a wide selection to choose from.
Sticking to a trusted study pattern: Advice I’ve always received about being the best student is that it comes down to organizing your life. Organization is key to success. Accidently forgetting to write a paper or forgetting you had an exam is the worst feeling. Keeping a planner and writing down all your deadlines and exam dates will be a lifesaver. Next, is notetaking. Everyone has different preferences, whether it’s using your laptop, your iPad or just writing it in a notebook. No matter which method you do, just make sure everything is kept neatly and together, so that you can easily reference back to a quote from a lecture. The Center for Academic Resources is a service on campus that can help you with your organization, study skills, time management and much more. If you need any other type of academic support, we also have the Connors Writing Center, which helps students with their papers, cover letters or resumes and the Math Center, which supports students in their mathematics courses.
Spending a Friday night alone: While doing well in the classroom is important while attending UNH, it is also important to get involved outside the classroom. While UNH does have a party scene like most US colleges and universities, it also has over 275+ student organizations that are based on your hobbies, academics, professional interests, etc. I got involved with a club called Meeple Tabletop Gaming Syndicate, where I can go play tabletop games on a Friday night. I have always been a big fan of board games, but I thought going to college would limit my opportunity to play them. To my luck, I play board games with a community of students every week and have made some close friends from it. A great way to find clubs you might be interested in is attending University Day, which is held once a year on Thompson Hall lawn. All of the student organizations are there, explaining who they are, when they meet and how to get involved in their club. Now, while I would recommend you joining a few clubs, remember to make sure you are managing your time between your studies and your involvements as to not stretch yourself too thin.
Not getting along with your roommate: My freshman year, I had two roommates. One of them was very friendly and we got lunch every week. The other roommate was also friendly, but not the best match for me. It never got to the point where I had to talk to the hall director, we just had very different interests. So, my advice for you is to fill out the roommate contracts with your roommate(s) together and do it honestly. If there is something you are not comfortable about, speak up and maybe you can try and find a compromise. In each of our residence halls, we have a hall director and several resident assistants to go to if you need to talk with someone. They all go through rigorous training to be the best supporters they can be for us.
Sleeping through your 8 a.m: A mistake that almost every college student makes is accidentally sleeping through an early morning class they meant to attend – I know I’ve done it multiple times. A key tip for avoiding such a tragedy is to make sure you’re regulating your sleep schedule (and not staying up until 3 a.m. watching Netflix). This way, you make sure you’re getting up on time in the morning. However, it’s not always easy to avoid this mistake. In the case that you do oversleep, make sure you always reach out to your professor and explain to them what happened (“I’ve been really sick and it hit me like a truck,” “I was up studying for your class!!” or “Bro, I was tired”). No matter what your reasoning, the important piece is that you’re advocating for yourself and communicating, which is always helpful in building a trusting relationship with your professors. Depending on the professor, they might even give you a pass, just for reaching out to let them know what happened! You never know unless you try (and I’ve tried).
