Adjusting to College Life and Independence

Adjusting to college is a difficult experience for many students as they learn to navigate the world in a more independent manner than they have had to in the past. While some students look forward to autonomy, others find the experience to be stressful and scary. As students learn to manage their own schedules, finances, health care, relationships, and academic expectations for the first time they often feel overwhelmed, even if they are happy about the changes.  If you are experiencing any of these obstacles, below are some things you can try to help with the adjustment to college life:

Create A Community On Campus And In The Lawrence Community For Yourself.

Joining a club or sport on campus is a great way to begin creating a community of friends that share your interests and can help you to build relationships.  Reaching out to others in your dorm, your RA, or upper classmen can be good resources for learning how they have been able to build community and make friends.  There are also many clubs and groups available in the larger Lawrence community that you can reach out to join and begin to develop relationships.

Set Routines.

Some students adjust quickly and easily to the autonomy of college life and are able to manage the demands of independent decision making and self-discipline.  However, most students struggle with the increased freedom and ensuring that their academic work gets completed while also balancing health, socialization, and budgeting finances.  Creating a budget to ensure financial stability throughout the entire semester is important as most students get a large sum of financial aid and / or have to work and budget to ensure their daily needs are met.  Additionally, setting daily routines to ensure that you get to class, complete coursework, and learn time management skills can be helpful for most incoming freshmen.

Create Healthy Habits.

Ensuring you have created healthy habits is one of the most important things a college student can do to reduce stress.  Getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, exercising, and socializing are important aspects of health that can improve your performance across all areas.

Give Yourself Time.

Routines, relationships, and stability in a new setting take time to develop. Try routines out to see how they work for you and be open and flexible to changing them as needed until you find one that works best for you.  Remember that developing close relationships require time and effort, they are not created overnight so give yourself time to find the right connections that make you feel comfortable.  Finally, you will become more comfortable with managing finances and expectations in your new environment, but it’s okay to ask for help while you are learning.

Learn about resources.

There are many resources on campus and around the Lawrence community to help learn how to manage finances, make friends, handle conflict, get support for classes, and manage mental health.