College

Dear My Perspective,

Ugh!!! I am stressing. I am leaving for college in a week or so. High school was a pretty tormenting experience. I was made fun. I didn't belong. I was a reject.

I am scared that college will be the same. What if my roommates are social types, and they quickly see that I am not? What if I do not make any friends? What if college is worse than high school? Please give me advice!!!!!!

Signed,
College Girl

Dear College Girl,

High school was bad. So naturally you want to do whatever you can not to repeat that. What may help, is to think about what could have made high school as bad as it was. This is where you admit your fault in it (along with other peoples faults). Figuring out what went wrong, will give you an idea of what not to do in college.

College is a great chance to start over, unlike high school. Almost no one knows you or anything about you. Sure there will be people you went to school with there, but there will be hundreds who didn't go to school with you also.

Maybe change your wardrobe (not necessarily now, but as you progress through school), maybe change your make up, maybe change your hairstyle (dye it, cut it, new style, etc).

Something new and different from what you were in high school is a great way to start college.

But the most important part of college life is to go into it, being firm about who you are. Don't compromise who you are, to make friends. Most people do not want to be friends with someone who acts like one person around one type of group, and then acts totally different with others, simply because they want acceptance.

Also, its important to go into college with the mindset that what happened in high school has happened. Learn from it, don't dwell on it. If people ask you about high school, say enough to suffice their question, do not go into your life story. Complaining about how horrible people were to you the previous year will only push people away.

Also, do not shy away from floor and dorm activities. Even if you go alone, you may have a chance at making friends. Usually your roommates are "safety friends" in the first few weeks of school. Not always though. But essentially safety friends are people you hang around until you start making your real friends.

Its also vital to stay open about the type of friends you want. The more picky you are, the harder it will be to find friends.

In the end, good luck with school!!