My last semester was very stressful because I was taking 18 credits and working at the Kress. Since this is my first year being away from home also, I was extremely homesick. I missed my family so much and my dog too. The struggle was real last semester because it felt like I was in 6th grade all over again, I had to make new friends and find out where things were. I had a full workload too. In addition, all this stress and workload, my roommate was not the best, she was not supportive or helped in the dorm either. She would leave her dishes on the tiny counter space we had and leave a huge mess whenever she did anything. I had to clean up and make sure the space wasn’t messy. I would take out the trash, clean the bathroom, vacuum, clean up the mirrors, and clean the sink area. Once I would finish cleaning, she would just make another big mess and never clean it up.
But soon I was able to find my rhythm and get myself back into the groove. My solution was to change my study habits and make sure I understood the context. I would review my notes and write in the margins too. I would write notes or connections I would make with the readings. With my family, I call them every day, and talk to them all the time. I make sure that I connect with either my mother or father to see how their day was. I also try to go home at least once a month so that I can see my cousins and grandparents. As for my roommate, I would communicate with her and tell her how I felt about what she was doing and how it was affecting me mentally. I tried to create a chore system that we could have used. I went back into our roompact contract and told her that we both agreed that we were both going to clean and that it was unfair to me that she wasn’t completing her part of the deal. We tried to fix it, but she ended up leaving UWGB and going back home, but we are still friends and I wish the best for her.
I love your image 🙂 I completely feel you on the missing your family bit, it’s a hard adjustment that first semester. I hope this semester is better for you & wishing you all the success!
I feel you on missing your family. Home for me is 12 hours from here so I totally understand! I kind of went through the same thing with my roommates last year and I feel like it was a situation that could make or break you. I’m glad you found a way to make it work for you though. Good luck with the rest of the semester!
It is very tough to adapt to college life and it certainly takes some time. It is very impressive how you managed to find solutions for your problems and effectively get things done.