Professors will let you eat snacks in class, but they won’t dictate your study periods. Forming effective study habits is your job now, and if you don’t, they’ll give you a 0 and move on. College students, especially first-years, need structure and good study habits. Here are some personal tips from a first-year who looked at her course load and quickly realized she needed to develop better study habits in order to not get overwhelmed.

Often, in order to apply to clubs, prospective members are expected to have the skills that clubs should be teaching them to develop. Student organizations should provide members with the toolbox they need to succeed within their community. Activities need to meet students where they’re at, whether that be supporting an already advanced member or a complete novice.

If you knew me during my first year, you probably would’ve heard me claim that I was majoring in just about every program WashU offers at a different point in time. I did this for a couple of reasons. The first is that I loved so many of the classes I took in my first year that I could’ve seen myself taking more classes in every single department.

You are beginning your college journey during a period marked by uncertainty, fear, anger, and a sense of helplessness — a reality shared by students who started in recent years amid events like the first election of President Donald Trump, the pandemic, and nationwide protests met with force on college campuses.

Starting college may be the first time your sense of self feels truly challenged, but understanding who you are is a lifelong task.

Don’t worry, we are here to help. If you’re interested in shaking the sheets in college, we can guide you through the common pitfalls that come with making sweet sweet love away from home. If you have no interest in having sex at this point in your life, that is also totally normal!

So if you don’t meet “the one” during Bear Beginnings, remember that there is so much love coming straight towards you.

WashU first-year Farah Bader was selected to receive the Cochlear Graeme Clark Scholarship for recipients of the Cochlear Nucleus Implant who demonstrate high academic achievement, along with Saint Louis University (SLU) first-year Grace Fleming. Both will be awarded $2,000 annually for up to four years.

A year can make a big difference. Student Life’s Managing Multimedia Editor, Sanchali Pothuru, and Multimedia Producer, Molly Fletcher, revisit four sophomores interviewed during the students’ first year. By asking the same questions one year later, this follow-up dives into how they’ve adjusted to college life since their first semester.

So, you’ve been placed in a traditional suite. The world is over. You can feel the panic creeping in, and your roommates are random, so you don’t know who you’ll spend the next nine months with. Well, two random suitemates turned friends are writing this for you, so know it’s not all catastrophic.