5 things to know if you are a freshman

For the university – as for life in general – there is no instruction manual, so you have to learn on the pitch and adjust your aim as you progress. A small, precious help is there, though: listening to the advice of people who have already been there. Therefore, Here are some things I wish I had known when I was a freshman, and which I hope will help you navigate the chaotic but fascinating world of college.

Prepare for a nightmare bureaucracy.
Do you think the worst enemy of college students is the exam session? Well, wrong. Between online forms, documents to print and secretariats open to the public only when the planets align, you will soon discover that the real antagonist to face is the bureaucracy. Often you will be defeated, but consider it a training ground for adult life, when the paperwork becomes so much that it overwhelms you.

Don’t listen to others.
The corridors of the university resound with terrifying legends, spoken in half-mouth: that professor rejected everyone, that other once made a freshman cry, that other one made me repeat the exam hundreds of times before giving myself a narrow one 18. Well, my advice is simple: don’t listen to any of these stories. Most of the time they are not true, and even if they are, panicking is useless. Armed with goodwill (and highlighters) and study, the rest will come by itself.

Skip the lessons.
Do you remember your school years, when you were forced to sit at your desk for five straight hours, listening to (or pretending to, at least) things you didn’t give a damn about? The good news is that those times are over. I am not advising you to skip classes whenever you like, but to learn to recognize the ones that are of no use to you at all. The professor does nothing but read the slides with the same vital flicker as Morticia Addams? Or does he get lost in useless chatter about his life? Get up and find a better way to spend your time, even if it’s just going to the bar.

Go on Erasmus.
Erasmus changes your life. I know this is the classic phrase that all the people who have gone there repeat, and I know you have had enough of hearing it, but it is the truth. So pack your bags and embark on this adventure: you’ll learn tons of things, see amazing places, build bonds that will be for life and come home feeling richer than ever, even if you have € 3 left in your wallet.

Have fun.
Studying is important, but that’s not all. Attend parties, meet new people, organize dinners with your flatmates – in short, enjoy every experience, however small and silly it may seem. University years are unique and unrepeatable years, during which you are old enough to have a certain degree of freedom and independence, but not so much that you are overwhelmed by responsibilities and duties. Enjoy!