Roomate Advice

One thing that you may be stressed and worried about when coming to college is having to live with a roomate. It seems scary and you may not know what to expect or how to handle living in the same room with another person. Luckily, I am here to help!

Now, there are two main different situations that you could encounter when entering college. You are either going into college knowing who your roomate is (a good friend most likely), or you are going to be assigned a roomate at random. If you have the option, I would absolutely pick the latter. It is not a good idea to room with a good friend. You will most likely get into an argument eventually and it can really effect your friendship in a negative way. Although rooming with someone you don't know seems scary, it is good in so many ways. You will meet more people through your roomate and be forced out of your comfort zone which is always positive in the end! You may not grow to be best friends or even good friends with your roomate, but the experience will help you grow as a person and will help you to expand your world view and help to gain respect for different types of people.

My main advice for dealing with living with a different person is as follows. You should set some ground rules with your roomate. Come to agreements on different issues such as loud noise, having a lot of people in the room, and maybe even talk about a designated study time for the room. Respect your roomates space and make sure your things don't invade the space of your roomate. If your roomate is messy this isn't as much of an issue, but if your roomate is a neat person than you should try to keep your part of the room as neat as possible. My last piece of advice is be nice and friendly to your roomate! Don't be afraid to ask your roomate questions to get to know him/her. Make an effort to be friends with your roomate and to hang out with them outside of the room. Overall, work at being a good roomate!

The-Roomate-Movie-Poster.jpg by Timothy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Handling Being Home Sick

Most kids coming out of high school and on their way to college are thinking about one major thing. "I get to live away from home and not worry about my parent's rules anymore!" All you can think about is getting out of your house and living on your own. The thought will most likely never cross your mind that there might come a point where you miss home and begin to feel home sick. Now, I am not saying that everyone will become home sick, but hopefully I can provide some helpful advice to those who do.

The first helpful advice I can give you to help with home sickness is that you are not the only one! Chances are that most of your classmates feel some home sickness as well. And fyi, a lot of the people who brag about not being home sick at all are lying! Many people are afraid to admit it. Don't be one of those people. Now, i am not saying that you should tell the whole world that you are home sick, but if the subject comes up it is okay to admit it because you are the majority. Also, it is okay to tell your parents and other family this. Most of the time talking with them will ease your mind. Remember, your family hasn't gone anywhere and will be there when you go back for break.

The last advice I would like to give is for the more serious cases of home sickness. Trinity has a great faculty and staff that is here for you! Don't be afraid to go check out counseling services and talk to a counselor. Talking to someone about it will only help you feel better. Also, the counselors at Trintiy will be able to give you even better advice than I have (surprising I know). So remember, if you are home sick, you are not the only one, it is nothing to be ashamed of, and don't be afraid to take advantage of the amazing counselors we have here at Trinity.

More Merrymans by Sherri Smetana is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The Class and Learning transition.

Highschool Seniors

One of the great things about college is the opportunity to learn so many new things. Yea, you learned a lot in high school and yes your experiences in high school will help you some once you get to the "real world", but college is where you really begin to delve into this "real world". I enjoyed many classes and high school, and didnt enjoy some classes. Whether I enjoyed them or not, I was always frustrated because I felt like so many of my classes would not apply in my future job or career field, whatever they may be. I am sure many of you felt the same way about your high school courses. A common statement made among students at my highschool when we would become frustrated with studying our doing work for a calss would be "Why are we even doing this, I will never use this information ever again:." This is a concern of many high school students, however most of you college freshman should realize by now that all of that changes in college.

Although it was frustrating sometimes, you had to go through those high school, seemingly pointless courses, to prepare you for college courses, which then would prepare you for your future career. The thing I love about college is that there is so much freedom in choosing your classes. You can really explore the curriculum and find out what you like and what you don't like. I  highly recommend taking many different types of classes and once you figure out what you really like go with it and you will be amazed at the real world and future career application that you see in your learning. So if you are a highschool senior, don't fret, the learning you are doing has significance and you will see exactly what I mean next year.

College Sophomores

Highschool Seniors by John Haier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.



College Sophomores by John Haier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The Football Transition

Highschool and college are different in many ways. Classes are different, friends are different, your living situation is different,  and for athletes sports are different. College level athletics, at any level of NCAA, is a big step up from highschool and something that one must be prepared for. There is a transition period and an adjustment period as you get used to college sports. Football, especially, is a big transition and much different than highschool football. I will explain the differences between highschool and college football and how to properly adjust to these differences.

Highchool football is no doubt tough and extremely challenging, however, college football is even tougher and more challenging. The two main differences bewtween the two are speed and size. Even at the D3 level the players are much bigger and much faster. This is something that will take some adjustment. The summer before you begin playing college football should be the hardest working time of your life. I recommend focusing your workout efforts on those two aspects of your game. Spend as much time in the weight room working on lifts that will best increase your strength and size at the same time. Also, you need to spend an equal amount of time on a track or football field working on your speed. Utilize the speed drills that you coach will send you in a summer workout manual. You may think that you no more about working out than your college strength coach, but i promise you that you do not.

The final thing I would like to emphasize about that transition is do not be initimidated. Now, i am not at all saying to be cocky when you go into your first season of college football. But, you should have a sense of confidence. Be confident in your abilities. You are on the team because the coaches wanted you there. They obviously see something in you. When you get there prove them right! As a reminder, in order to be successful in college football focus on your speed, strength, and listen to everything your coaches tell you. If you do all these things you will have a great chance to be a successful college football.

I love this pic! by Sherri Calhoun is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


Yay by Sherri Smetana is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Guidlines to Live By Your Freshman Year

The transition from high school to college is a major one. It is a culture shock to a lot of people. It is a totally different way of living and a major step up from high school. You don't have parents making sure you get up in the morning and you have a lot more independence.

There are two ways to handle this newfound freedom. You can go crazy and party and not worry too much about school and studying, but this option will leave you unhappy at Christmas break when you see your grades. The other option is to manage your time well and focus on school and do homework ahead of time. I would highly recommend the latter option. You may ask yourself "well that doesn't sound fun at all; i thought college was all about parties and meeting new people"? If you do manage your time well and get your school work and studying done when you should then you will also have time to meet new people and go to parties. Do not fret, college is a fun experience and should absolutely be enjoyed to the fullest. With great time management college won't stress you out to much and will be the best four years of your life. Also, both you and your parents will be happy when you get those grades back in December.

In order to achieve that success you want to have I would highly recommend getting a study group and meeting with your professor regularly. A study group is a great way to not only study, but to meet new people as well. Don't be afraid to throw the idea out there to your classmates about starting a study group. They will respect you for this because most of them have wanted to be in a study group, but were most likely to afraid to ask about forming one. You will make new friends and be encouraged to study by others who want to do well in class. As I saud, the other thing you should absolutely do is meet regularly with each professor. I recommend setting up a meeting with each professor every week or two weeks. This may sound like a lot but it is worth it. Meeting with them will help you make sure you unserstand everything in class and it will make sure that you are not behind in class. This also shows the professor that you are interested in their material and really want to get better as a student. With these two tactics and good time management you set yourself up for success. You will be a successful student, but also meet new people and be able to have fun and enjoy college.

The photo represents the last stage of my highschool career and the first stage of my "big transition".


His Buddy by Sherri Smetana is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.