How to Make the Transition from High School to College Life Easier

 

The transition to college is often difficult for students to make. Frequently, it means moving to a new home which might not be in the same city – or even the same part of the country – as your high school home. The transition to college also requires you to take on new responsibilities in life, learn new skills and essentially to “grow up”. But college life is designed to make this transition as easy as possible, providing you with resources on campus to help you through the difficulties of making the transition.

The biggest difficulty that comes with the transition to college is the difficulty of moving away from home. Sure, you’re thrilled about it. But you’re probably also scared. You have to learn how to pay your bills on your own, set your own schedule, and handle your own household responsibilities. Living in a dorm can greatly help with your transition to college for this reason. It gives you some regulations and guidelines to keep you from getting too crazy while allowing you some of the freedoms of living on your own. It’s the perfect medium between living at home with your parents and living in an apartment and can be the transition that you need in terms of housing.

Other than housing, the general responsibilities of life that you’ll have to manage are the major part of your transition to college. Your credit card and cell phone bills will likely be coming to your new home and you’re going to need to figure out how to pay them in a timely manner. You’re not going to have anyone to tell you when to go to bed, so you’ll need to figure out when you need some sleep. These are things that you’ll learn with time. The most important thing is to stay tuned in to yourself. If you’re getting sick often, feeling stressed all the time or feel unusually depressed and scared, you might need to get some help as you make these transitions.

Help is something that you should have at your disposal anyway, because the transition to college isn’t always easy even in the best of circumstances. Help can come in many forms. Maybe you just need to know that you can call your best friend from back home in the middle of the night to tell her that all of your roommates are mean and you don’t like anyone in your classes. Perhaps you need the security of knowing that you can go back home for a year if you can’t make the transition to college work for you. Or maybe you need regular contact with a school counselor to give you guidance about making choices as you transition to college. Make use of all of the human resources at your disposal to make the transition go more smoothly.

You’re hardly the first … or the last … person to make the transition to college. Others have done it successfully year after year and you’ll be able to do it as well. Trust your own abilities, be willing to make and learn from your mistakes and surround yourself with people who will help you transition to college. It’s an exciting time of life and you should do your best to make the most of it!

 

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