With the first week behind, first-year students have dived head-on into classes and the college life at FGCU. For them, this time comes with a mix of emotions, whether they are jumping out of their skin, so happy to have left their parents behind, or starting to get homesick, missing old friends and the comfort of a home they grew up in.
Whichever scenario applies, you are now in a new community where most people around you have been there, done that.
As the Week of Welcome events are done, it’s easy to notice that college life is not all about classes and homework. There are hundreds of clubs and organizations that students can get involved with that will take their college experience to the next level.
To make sure you don’t miss out on kicking off some of the best years of your youth, we asked FGCU upperclassmen if they have any regrets, and what they would change about their freshman year, if they had the opportunity.
“I would get more involved (at least my first semester),” said Dana Burkholder, a nursing student. “I regret staying inmy dorm all the time and not getting to know more people.”
Junior Ashley Bangasser, a sociology major, responded on Twitter saying that if she could change anything about her freshman year, she would “get more involved with clubs at school,” just like Burkholder.
Being in college is about testing your limits — not alcohol limits, but intellectual limits — and seeing what it is that you are good at and how you can improve that even further. As the semester progresses, several opportunities will show themselves and letting those doors shut in front of you will be a mistake.
In college, the temptation to let it go and party every night is always there, but it doesn’t mean you must do it recklessly. Casual and social get-togethers are fun and you should not be a prisoner of your dorm room. However, don’t go overboard, know when to stop. There’s only so much Fireball you can drink before regretting it, as Brandon Kirsch’s, communication major, Twitter response stated “fireball.”
Senior Hannah Gaylord, journalism major, said, “I’d travel more and enjoy the excitement of being a freshman in college. I’d seriously take the time to focus onmyself more and take photos of every moment.”
Author Neale Donald Walsch once said, “Life starts at the end of your comfort zone,” which is 100 percent true, and many people who have succeeded agree because they had to step out of their comfort zone to reach their goals. For students, college is a place where you can get out of your comfort zone, yet still feel safe.
Whatever your aspirations may be, you must look around you and reach out to people, and they will help you. In such a closed community as FGCU, there is no such thing as an unanswered question or an unheard cry. You are not alone with figuring out the life ahead of you and creating the person you want to be.