On May 23rd at Children’s Mercy Park, seniors are graduating, with some once again facing the prospect of becoming freshmen. Not only will they become independent, they will enter their adult lives. This new chapter can be nerve racking, but there are ways to prepare.

Counselor Mindy Beard thinks students should familiarize themselves with resources they have at their disposal during the beginning days of college. These could be tutors, career center, counseling and more. Collin College has a great amount of student resources for students to take advantage from in regards to academic and personal college.

“Make sure you know where everything is in your college campus,” Beard said. “Where tutors are, the office and what their professors office hours are.”

Southern New Hampshire University believes it is really important to join extracurricular activities, because it helps build relationships. It also helps with defining your knowledge of your new surroundings that you are in concerning college life.

“Make sure to join a club or activity,” Counselor Alissa Samek said. “Even just making friends is good, so you enjoy your time at college and don’t get bored.”

Those extra events in your life not only build your knowledge of school they also help in your application process to get into university. Post University said that it helps colleges get to know you as a person. There is a lot of competition in the student choosing process.

“Don’t be afraid to get involved,” Senior Allison Pilsl said. “Get into as many clubs and extra activities as possible.”

Senior J’Nai Moultrie also thinks it is important to organize your time wisely in college. Some things to organize time and school work according to UTEP Connect Extended University are an online or paper calendar, a separate work space or a computer.

“A planner, so they can plan out their classes and events to stay on top of things,” Moultrie said.

Organization of time doesn’t just have to be about class and study time. It could be about other activities that are important to keep yourself not burned out on school work. The average college student has 5-6 classes each week in school, which is an average 12-16 hours of class according to Baylor University.

“It is important to make time for yourself when scheduling, as well as time for friends, extracurricular activities and just extra time in case you need more time for something else,” Samek said.

Study time is not an exact science. The University of Michigan-Flint said students should determine their classes around how much they spend employed. Then, study time should coincide with how many credit hours the student takes in a day. Every three credit hour class should have at least six hours of study time.

“Schedule with work in mind as well as study time, it is said that you have to have two hours of study time for every hour of class,” Beard said.

Pictures from friends and family are always a good gift to new college students. As well as little presents like gift cards, that can help buy basic items and safety measures like mace and other objects are a very good gift in new environments.

“An alarm clock or system to wake you up, your parents aren’t gonna be there to wake you up,” Beard said. “There is no attendance record and professors won’t care if you’re not there with how big the classes are.”

Though students are eager to start their new lives, they should stop and consider what they will need to succeed.

“I don’t think my 18 year-old self would listen to that advice,” Beard said. “I think sometimes you have to go at life alone and learn by yourself. Our hope is still that students keep in mind what we say and use some of it when they can.”