By Shelby Graham
Contributor

Freshman orientation is here and we, the Register’s summer staff, remember how stressful it can be. So here are a few tips to help you survive your first semester.

Make a friend
Don’t think you have to go through college alone. There is someone else just like you on campus wanting to make friends. You’ll need someone to go to the cafe with, study with, and even someone to go to campus events with. You don’t want to be stuck in your dorm room wishing you had someone to do things with. So it’s best to try and make friends while everyone is new because people tend to clique up.

Get out and do something
Once you make a friend or two, or even before you make any, go out on campus and see what’s going on. Soon you’ll hear a lot of people saying how Greensboro is so wack and so is A&T. Well that’s not true. College is what you make it. If you choose to sit around and be bored of course you’ll think it’s boring. But if you get out and do something, you’ll enjoy yourself… you may even meet some people which will help with tip #1.

Come to class prepared
You are no longer in high school and your professors will not hold your hand. You need to be in class prepared to learn or else you will fall behind. Make sure you have your notebooks, writing utensils, and whatever else you will need in the class to make sure you are on top of your game.

Go to class
College is very expensive. It doesn’t make sense to pay all of this money to receive a higher education just to not attend class. Oh yeah, attendance is a grade. Don’t think you’re just going to skip class everyday, do the homework, & show up on test days. You may think you’re okay but when your teacher checks the attendance towards the end of the semester, you may automatically fail due to lack of attendance.

Exchange numbers with people in your classes
There will be days that you may not be able to attend class. I understand life happens. Or you may have forgotten to write down the assignment. It may seem strange exchanging numbers with your classmates but trust me, it will definitely come in handy. Especially around exam time. GroupMe, a free app, will probably be your second best friend next to Blackboard.

Blackboard is your best friend!
Some of you all may not be familiar with Blackboard but it’s literally going to be your best friend. You will probably check it more than you check your social media. This is where your professor communicates with you, posts assignments, and where you will probably submit assignments for most of your classes. This is going to be the most effective way of keeping up with grades during a semester. If you aren’t familiar with it, you should acquaint yourself with it because you will definitely use it. There’s even a mobile app so you can have it right at your fingertips.

Everyone walks different paths of life with different majors and career goals but one thing is for certain, everyone would agree that these are some of the most helpful tips to make it through college. One of the most important tips would be to just breathe. At times, things will be stressful and things will get tough but remember to just breathe and you will see it through! Hard work really does pay off. Good luck!