By Clair Fink

If you could receive advice from your future self, would you take it?

As freshmen, we sometimes feel lost and overwhelmed by new environments and people. Senior students often don’t have the same reservations, due to knowledge gained throughout their college career. We asked six Class of 2019 seniors what advice they would give to first-year students. Here’s what they wish they had known freshman year:

“Homesickness is a big thing. I live four hours away and my dad dropped me off and I cried, but obviously, I made it. It happens every year. Take it with a grain of salt and you’ll get through everything and it’s not always as bad as it seems.”

-Tiana Dillon ‘19

“Anderson has great breakfast! Go as often as possible and get omelets if you can. There is also a computer lab in the top of Buhl that I just learned about. It’s a great place for getting stuff done.”

-Calvin Feagins ‘19

“OK, I’ve got lots of laundry/dorm tips coming at you. Buy dark or blue towels, so you can wash them with your jeans. Buy one color socks, so you don’t have to match them later on. The stuff Bed Bath and Beyond advertises as ‘college must-haves’ you don’t end up using anyways, so don’t waste your money. Also, don’t buy a steamer since you can’t bring an iron and ironing board. A spritz water bottle does the same unwrinkling job for way cheaper. Lastly, make more friends outside of your first year, most of the time they don’t stick around.”

-Kelly O’Donnell ‘19

“I guess I’m not a traditional freshman in the fact that I was a transfer and didn’t go here freshman year. But answering this question, in a general sense, most freshmen always buy all their books before classes and sometimes you waste a lot of money doing that. Don’t rush and buy all your books and waste your money, because sometimes you don’t even use all of them.”

-Paul Nussbaum ‘19

“Go to as many activities as you can! There’s usually free stuff, free food and you get to meet people. This is also a huge thing I just learned recently — if you drive up to the gate by the library parking lot, it’s motion censored and it will open!”

-Katelyn Gonos ‘19

“I learned a lot of new studying techniques over the years. Sometimes not one way works for everyone. I was trying to study like my friends and it wasn’t working. I was worried I would slip up, but everything always ended up being just fine.”

-Isaiah Brown ‘19