The First-Year College Experience

by Dave Berry

Those of us who are college veterans will never forget our freshman year at college. Some of us may like to forget our freshman year, but in general it is a time filled with anticipation, some anxiety, and wonderful discoveries.

College is a lot different than high school. You may decide to commute from your home to a local campus. Your freshman experience will definitely make an impression on you. Without doubt, though, the most dramatic freshman year is for those living away from home. What can you expect as you head off into the wonderful world of higher education?

The first thing you'll notice is the workload. It will be heavier and more intense than you ever experienced before. The major challenges of college work are the large volume of reading, the short deadlines, and the writing, writing, writing. A related effect that can be brought on by the workload is doubt, frustration, and possibly loneliness. You'll be away from the comforts and friendships your home provided for you over the previous years.

On some of those long, seemingly endless nights of studying and writing, it will be only natural for you to long for the good old days. Hang in there. These down periods will pass. Whatever you do, don't make major decisions about your major, your courses, or even your roommate during one of these blue periods. Things always look better in the morning.

You'll be making a lot of new friends. Continue to be yourself. Don't strike a pose or play the role of someone you're not. Select your friends with the same care and patience you have always used. Believe it or not, your college friendships will be among the most satisfying and long-term of your life. It's always exciting to discover how wonderfully diverse college relationships can be.

You'll also be on your own, your own boss (more or less) 24 hours a day. Be careful here. Don't go flying off the end of the pier. Enjoy your newfound freedom. Stay up until dawn talking about your ideals and ambitions with your dorm's regular bull session buddies. Sleep in until the afternoon on a light class day. Explore the local town or suburbs with one or two of your new friends. Remember, though, with freedom comes responsibility. Even though your parents won't be around to follow up on your loose ends, you shouldn't let things go completely. Just find your own style.

You may even start to think about your future. Be on the lookout for role models. Maybe a certain professor is especially inspiring. Perhaps your school has some ground-breaking research going on. Be sensitive to your own gravity. If some area of study attracts you, find out all you can about it. It might be the beginning of your self-definition process. Going to college is as much about finding out who you really are as it is about getting that degree.

Taking the first step

How will you know you can succeed at something if you don't give it a try?

How will you know you can drag yourself out of the depths of your despair if you don't try?

How do you know you won't get that new job if you don't apply? How do you know...

Before becoming a success at anything, you must take that first step.

Giving and Receiving Love

Humans need love. It is in the giving and receiving of love that we choose life. Participating in this fundamental exchange lies in our ability to trust others.


Happiness Now!

Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late.

Today, this hour, this minute is the day, the hour, the minute for each of us to sense the fact that life is good, with all of its trials and troubles, and perhaps more interesting because of them.

Setting aside special moments

Over the years, I have noticed that it has become more and more difficult to set aside those special moments of the day when we can remove ourselves from the hectic, frenetic pace of everyday life.

Yet finding time to get away, to reflect, to concentrate, or to just let the mind wander freely is important for our overall health.

Studies have shown that reducing stress in daily life significantly reduces the risk of heart attacks or the need for heart surgery.

Reflecting on Anger

Another way of dealing with anger is to reflect on its results.

We know very well that when we are angry, we do not see the truth clearly. As a result, we may commit many unwholesome actions.

Our future life is determined by our intentional actions today, just as our present life is heir to our previous intentional behavior. Intentional actions committed under the influence of anger cannot lead to a happy future.


A Fresh Start Now

The greatest power you possess for succeeding in life is your understanding that life gives you a fresh start any moment you choose to start fresh.

You've only to test the truth of this fact about the newness of life to discover the incredible freedom that waits for you just behind it.

Nothing that stood in your way even a heartbeat before stands there now in the same way. It's all new, even if you can't as yet see it that way.

Finding Spiritual Guidance

Look for spiritual guidance everywhere and at any time... Spiritual guidance is not restricted to one area, or one particular day, or one particular time of the day.

While you may be more open to receiving your guidance in the quiet hours of the early morning, or the late night, your spiritual guidance is always present. It is present in books that you 'happen' to come across, articles you are attracted to reading, things you hear that when looked at from that perspective apply to your situation.

Perhaps if we expected to receive spiritual guidance at each and every moment of our lives instead of simply in church on Sunday, or when we sit quietly in meditation, we would receive many more messages throughout the day.
　

Emotions Have an Effect!

Every emotion that surges or trickles through you causes a physical reaction somewhere in the body. A minor upset may take a couple of days to register as a headache or backache; a more vehement explosion of anger or hatred directed at someone could result in a terrible case of ulcers or colitis, because that emotion is pounding your body.

But just as negative emotions have a negative effect on the body, so too do positive emotions have a positive effect.

We are all teachers and students

We are all teachers and students. You learn (hopefully) from the people in your life, and they have the opportunity to learn from you as well.

We are all 'in the same boat' and if we start learning from each other and sharing what we have learned with others, perhaps we can get to where we're going faster.

Sometimes we learn from people's mistakes, sometimes from their examples, but always we have the opportunity to look around us and see 'little mirrors' of ourselves.