Your freshman year at college can be one of the most exciting times of your life, but there’s also a lot of uncertainty involved, especially if you’re younger. It can potentially be the first time you’ve been living out on your own, the first time you’re financially responsible for yourself, and the first time you’re completely on your own schedule and on your own merit.
And this means, to a degree, you should be thinking about safety first when it comes to things like alcohol, drugs, sleep schedules, the rules of the road in the college experience, and even things as basic as copyright issues (don’t plagiarize!).
Watch Out For Alcohol
Struggling with alcohol is a perpetual problem for people fresh onto the college scene. It can be such a draw because if feels good and exciting, is a way to bond with other people, is a way to get rid of some of those early inhibitions. But, too much of a good thing, especially when you mix it with concerns about legal drinking age, can lead to extremely unsafe college experiences that you hear about all the time on the news. Having to go to rehab can really adjust your college timeline.
Be Aware of Drug Laws
For many people, drugs are available to them for the first time when they hit a college campus. This is a natural result of lots of different types of people coming together, especially because college towns are more concerned with academic pursuits than physical work more often than not, so taking drugs doesn’t have as many immediate consequences. But getting caught with a scheduled drug can quickly mean the end of your college experience, so be safe and be careful.
Get Some Sleep
One thing that lots of freshman in college tend to do is to stop sleeping as much as they should. There are so many things to do, so much noise, and so much studying they want to accomplish, that their sleep patterns take a hit. The thing about this is that losing sleep makes the rest of your life more hazy and unclear.
Talk To Upperclassmen
Though it might be scary to talk to people who seem older, bigger, and more experienced than you, if you want the safest possible freshman experience, make it a point to talk to upperclassmen. They’ll be able to fill you in on some of the pitfalls that others have experienced that you can avoid.
Don’t Copy and Paste
Want to safely keep yourself out of academic trouble? The absolute best way to do that is to never plagiarize anything. Don’t copy and paste. Don’t borrow. Make sure every single thing that you write is completely your own set of words, and you’ll be fine with your reports.
