Achieving Balance in Your Freshman Year
Debbie Rodriguez, MS, LPC, NCC
Counselor, Pasadena High School, Pasadena, Texas

Starting college brings many changes and offers a number of challenges to the first-year student. Suddenly, students must do many things that had been done for them while attending high school. Classes must be chosen, and schedules must be arranged. Far from home, students must find ways to balance a challenging academic life with the wonderful, new social life offered by the many activities available on a college campus. Some students must also work to help offset the cost of attending college. So, where do you start?

A good place to begin is to attend the freshman orientation offered by the college or university. This is usually held in the summer shortly before the beginning of the semester. During the orientation, faculty members and students provide information on student activities, campus life, academics, and campus tours so that students will be better able to access the many resources available. Contact the office of admissions at the college you plan to attend to register for this important event.

Selecting Your First Semester’s Classes
In general, freshmen will begin taking core academic courses as well as introductory courses required by their major and minor fields. A 12-credit (or hour) course load (four classes) is considered full-time, but many freshmen take additional classes each semester in hopes of completing their degrees in four years! Classes are also cheaper after the first 12 credits—cost per credit generally goes down after the first 12 credits each semester. 

Beginning with the freshman year, students are responsible for selecting their own classes and even scheduling the times they will attend each class. To help with this process, students are assigned academic advisors upon entering the university. The advisor is usually a faculty member in the department that the student has selected as their major field of study. (Serious thought should be given when selecting a major, as changing the major results in a new advisor and often sets students behind in making progress toward completing the degree.) Students are responsible for either making appointments with their advisors, or visiting them during posted office hours. When making this important visit to an advisor, be prepared! Bring along a copy of the college catalog and the class schedule for the semester. These materials are usually available near the registrar’s or the counselors’ offices.

Balancing Academics, Work, and Other Activities
There is so much to do that first year! Sometimes, freshmen get a little overwhelmed not only by the workload, but also by the amount of freedom they are experiencing being away from home for the first time. There are no parents to get you up in the morning, to see that you eat regularly, or nag you about completing assignments (even your professors often will say nothing until an assignment is due!) Then there are the almost limitless choices of activities going on all the time, as well as work obligations. Getting and staying organized will be essential. Ask for an organizer, whether electronic or written, as a graduation gift, or use money received to purchase one. Keep it updated and with you at all times! Enter assignments, term papers, and exams, as well as activities and your work schedule. Schedule in some study and homework time—professors often say that successful students put in three hours of study and homework for every hour of class attended. Do the math: for a 12-credit semester, following this rule would put academics at a total of 48 hours per week! This leads to the next essential concept in balancing your activities:

Prioritize! 
You are wasting your money (and/or your parents’ money) unless you place academics at the top of your priority list! There are chapters to read, papers to write, projects to complete, and presentations to prepare. Your grades in college coursework are based on a combination of all of these things, and grades determine many things such as your college GPA and the continuation of your financial aid. Remember that you have chosen to continue your education, and that you (or someone) is paying a lot of money for you to enjoy the privilege of attending college. Therefore, your first priority needs to be keeping up with coursework and studying. If you must work during college, try to limit the number of hours you are required to put in on the job. More than 12–15 hours per week could easily affect your grades. You may have to be selective about the clubs you join and the activities in which you take part, but do include these things! These activities are part of the overall “college experience,” and each brings personal growth as well as enjoyment and new friends to your college years.

While it is important to enjoy the ride, be careful to avoid the pitfalls many freshmen take when exercising too much freedom their first year. College should be enjoyable, but it also must be a lot of work. Make mature, intelligent choices about using your time and choosing your activities, including those dedicated simply to socializing!

Study Skills
Many students, even some top graduates, get through high school without doing very much studying. This is not possible in college! Professors pass out a course syllabus, then expect students to keep up with assigned reading and other work often with few or no reminders! Students can be lulled into thinking they don’t have to do the work or the readings, as nothing may be said about it until the midterm or the final. However, students are held responsible for all material assigned on the syllabus, and those who do not keep up often find it necessary to withdraw from classes after falling hopelessly behind. This wastes time and money!

To be successful in college, it will be important to keep up with reading assignments and attend class each day prepared. When you organize yourself, schedule some time for study and coursework, then keep to that schedule. There are often study groups that students in classes will organize to work together and help each other. Some colleges even offer special classes or group students and create activities to provide time and resources for freshmen to begin formulating good study habits. All colleges have extensive libraries that are open many hours per day, and numerous computer and subject area labs which employ upperclassmen to act as teacher assistants to tutor students coming in to request assistance. Remember, too, that each of your professors is required to schedule about 12 hours per week when they are sure to be in their offices. Find out where your professors are housed, and make note of their office hours so that you can get the help you need.

Make the Choice to Be Successful
Most of the education college students receive comes through their own motivation to research and learn about new things. Your success—or lack of it—is more likely to be dependent upon your persistence and determination than on your brainpower. While there is a lot of help available, especially to first-year students, the decisions you make are the best predictors of your success in college.