Congratulations on making it to the end of your first year. You may not realize it, but this is a big feat. Hopefully you are happy with how this year went, but if not, I hope you’re able to re-assess what went wrong and change your habits for next year. I want to spend my final column giving you advice to think about over the … Continue reading Advice for the Floundering First-Year (5/17/19)

Dear First-years, Finals are coming up fast. You might be stressed out, busy, and even worse‒you might be really sick of your roommate, and now you’re avoiding your dorm and have no place to study. Have no fear, dear first-years, this happens to the best of us. Here are my top five favorite places to study when you don’t want to be in your room. … Continue reading Advice for the floundering first-year (5/10/19)

I talk a lot about stress and dealing with stress in this column. This is for a reason: stress is a pretty common feeling among college students, especially as we creep closer and closer to finals week. But one thing that really bothers me is that the ‘stress management’ tips students are often given (from many different sources) are all the same: do yoga, take … Continue reading Advice for the floundering first-year (5/3/19)

Dear First-Years, ‘Tis the season. Not the holiday season, mind you, but the room-draw, select-your-classes, everything-is-happening-right-now season. And oof, it’s a lot to handle. If you’re anything like me, you’re feeling the pressure right now, and that can be extremely stressful. Here are a few tips I have for handling all that stress. First, make a to-do list (or several) and tackle the things that … Continue reading Advice for the floundering first-year (4/26/19)

Dear First-years, It’s almost midterms, and with those come increased academic stress. We’ve all heard tips on how to decrease this kind of stress: do yoga, deep breathing, eat right, etc. But I want to talk about what happens when your stress is greater, and these simple fixes don’t help. Occasional anxiety is normal, but if you have felt uncontrollable stress for at least six … Continue reading Advice for the floundering first-year (3/22/19)

Dear first years- I’m going to be honest with you: friendships were a lot easier during our elementary school playground days than they are in college. Back then, friends were the people you played with at recess, the people in your class, or really anyone you came across that you talked to briefly. Now, however, it can feel impossible to even maintain the friendships you … Continue reading Advice for the floundering first-year (3/15/19)

Dear first years- By now, the course load of this semester has likely hit you full-force, and if you’re anything like me, the amount of homework you have feels completely overwhelming. I’m here to hopefully ease that stress by offering you a few study tips that I swear by. First, create an incentive for yourself. For me, this means if I study for a set … Continue reading Advice for the floundering first-year (3/8/19)

Dear first years- I sure hope that your spring semester has been off to a good start, but more than likely you’ve had a few ups and downs already. I can tell you that the freezing weather has caused me quite a few problems in the last three weeks, but hopefully we are all going to make it through this. As cold as it feels … Continue reading Advice for the floundering first-year (3/1/19)

Dear first-years, Happy Spring semester, and welcome back to campus. You’ve now survived your first-ever semester of college, so congratulations on that. However, I hope you’re ready to buckle down and get to work because this semester is likely going to be harder than the last. You are no longer in the safety net of your first term seminar, you’re mixed up in the rest … Continue reading Advice for the floundering first-year (2/27/19)

Dear first-years, We all have heard about the “freshman fifteen” and know that, because we are away from home and now have free reign over what we eat, it is common to gain a little weight. Well, first let me stop you right there: the freshman fifteen is a bit of a myth, and is more accurately called the “first-year four.” Also, this doesn’t have … Continue reading Advice for the Floundering First-Year (11/16/18)