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im going to graduate high school in like three months and while i am super excited for college im also really scared :< like my entire world is going to get turned upside down soon
how do you cope with it? with possibly losing friends, being away from home, not having your extracurriculars or clubs anymore? im going to miss my band and theatre and dance buddies (and doing all of those things too) and im going to miss early morning bus rides where i listen to music and im going to miss my cat
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ajmetz
Btw...congrats on approaching the end of High School and starting College. Hope whatever you concerns that it all goes really well!! =).
I don't have many tips on coping. It was too long ago for me and I think the fact we had college inbetween School and Uni helped a lot. College / Further Education was in the same town, so not such a radical change, so School had ended, and you still saw School friends around. University / Higher Education wasn't for another couple of years.
that sounds nice tbh. im going to have to go an hour away for college
by lydia; ; Report
ajmetz
Everyone I know that has been to Uni has found it to be the best time of their life. Yes, it's change, and you may miss the old. That doesn't mean the new won't be awesome too. =).
Am from the UK, and we have school (up to 16), then college (typically up to 18, but can vary if you took some time out after school, or if you went out and worked after school and returned as as an adult years later, etc), then University (which Americans call college).
For me, there were social cliques in my school, so I deliberately went to a college none of my school friends were going to, so I could have a fresh start. It was lovely that the social clique-y-ness wasn't apparent. Everyone socialised with one another at college without you having to have a particular social standing or be in with a particular crowd. That was refreshing, and I felt more comfortable just being myself.
University was just a different ball game altogether. Went to Uni in London, so there were a huge number of international students, so I made friends from all over the world. Everybody you met did incredible things. I was making a videogames magazine in my spare time. Some kids in the year above on the commercial music course, who had started Anjunabeats, had their remix of Madonna's track 'What It Feels Like For A Girl', appear in her music video, and it was all over the front page of our Uni's website. My mate Risto left for Hollywood and soundtracked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2007 film. Some other students got signed and became The Feeling. My flat mate wrote music reviews for a national newspaper. Just the quality of people you meet, the talent, and the way everyone's career takes off after Uni - obviously - it is rubbish when you first leave Uni - it can take six months to a year to get your first decent job (I worked in a Petrol Station for a few months after Uni before getting a loan to do a videogames documentary) - but yeah, you make good friends, and then they spread out all over the world, and suddenly you've friends in every country, doing incredible things, and it's fun to stay in touch, =).
Uni wasn't perfect. I studied print journalism and ended up in a class that was a bit anti-social. But I made friends with more social art, mixed media, and music students. There was also lots of stuff to take advantage of - I taught myself video editing just by using equipment at the Uni in my spare time, even though it wasn't part of my course. The facilities you have access to are brilliant. And the University Library is a goldmine of academic knowledge you will miss when you leave, xx.
thank you for sharing :)
im excited honestly, im just scared of leaving all my friends behind and im also afraid of getting really bad grades
in the us we have school up until 18, and then college, and then once you have a degree you can go to a grad school which is how you get higher degrees
by lydia; ; Report
Katie
So I know you asked for advice from people who went away to college specifically, (instead of someone who's taking a gab year) but as someone who graduated from high school last year I figured I could provide some insight.
For starters yes, there is a good chance that you will lose some of your friends when everyone moves away. Sometimes as adults you kinda just get to busy and can go long periods of time without talking to some people (it is normal). It is also important to accepts that everyone is always changing and some people who your got along with in high school might be totally different people in college and that is okay and normal too. If you don't like how someone has changed talk to them about it and if you still feel weirded out after the fact you don't need to stay friends with them. In college you are likely going to meet a wide variety of people and develop many of friendships (some which will last and some that will be temporary, which is also normal).
Going to college will obviously be a big change and some people deal with change better than others (myself not so much), however my advice would be to develop a routine once you get settled in to the college life. Developing a routine would provide some sense of organization and also be comforting when things feel hectic. Also find some things that bring you comfort such as create a playlist of music to play while on campus to keep you calm, decorate your living quarters to be cozy and a sort of safe space. Also I don't know what country you come from but many of colleges have mental health services on campus for you to use. From what i've heard from acquaintances who attend college, these services have a bit of a wait time, but it's still a notable piece of advise.
For clubs and extracurriculars that will not be much of a worry either as many of colleges have a wide range of club for pretty much every interest you can think of. Branch out and if anything sounds interesting to you, ask to join the club.
I don't know if my long ramble helped you at all, but I wish you well on your college journey!
thank you for your advice i really appreciate it :)
by lydia; ; Report