This fall may be the first time you move away from your family.
You’re probably both excited and a little scared about leaving, and
that’s normal.
YOUR FIRST TIME AWAY FROM HOME: This fall may be the first time you move away from your family. You’re probably both excited and a little scared about leaving, and that’s normal.
“Missing what’s familiar is natural – but pretty soon new places and people will become familiar, too,” said D’Arcy Lyness, Ph.D., medical editor for the Nemours Foundation, and an adolescent psychologist, in an e-mail interview. Lyness explains how you can adjust if you are struggling with being away from home:
– Get comfortable in your new environment by getting involved and participating in activities.
– Stick around on the weekends so you can get to know people and have new experiences.
– Don’t concentrate on being away from home. Find out what you like about your campus, and focus on those things.
– Keep in contact with your loved ones from home, but make sure you’re not giving them most of your attention.
– Decorate your dorm room in ways that remind you of home.
– Seek out friendships.
YOUR FIRST PART-TIME JOB
Once you start paying for things on your own, you’ll realize it isn’t cheap to buy groceries or to go out on Friday night. Although many students start working in high school, you may never have felt the need to get a job until now.
Emily Strader, the Student Employment Coordinator for University Career Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, fills us in on how to snag a good part-time job:
– When you first go to apply, make sure you dress appropriately, and ask to see the manager.
– If you do not hear from the business within seven to 10 days after returning the application, go back and speak with the manager.
– Restrict yourself to 12 to 15 hours of work a week, or only three shifts a week.
– Consider working in the restaurant or babysitting/care-giving businesses. Servers tend to make good money in tips, and babysitters and care-givers are paid higher hourly amounts.
– Avoid office jobs that require you to work all day, every day.
YOUR FIRST CREDIT CARD
You should probably get your first part-time job before you apply for your first credit card, or you could find yourself in a precarious credit situation. Opening lines of credit can affect your credit score – positively or negatively. Similar to a GPA, a credit score is a cumulative rating of your credit performance. Your score affects everything from the interest rates you are offered to whether or not you can buy a car or a home. Suffice to say, it’s important. Beth Kobliner, author of “Get a Financial Life,” provides some tips on what you need to know before getting your first card:
– Research different credit card companies’ offers.
– Look for a card with low interest rates (also known as low APR), and no annual fees.
– Make credit card payments on time. If you don’t, your credit score will suffer.
– Only use your card for emergencies, or for things you could pay for in cash.
YOUR FIRST NEED FOR A BUDGET
In high school you may have had a lot more money to spend on whatever you wanted; but in college you may find you need money every month for things like your credit card bill. That’s why creating a budget is extremely important in college.
“If you don’t budget, you will likely get into deep credit card debt. Unfortunately, it’s just too easy to get in over your head fast,” Kobliner said. She gives some information to help you get started on creating a budget:
– Keep track of all the things you purchase or put money toward for one month. This will help you realize where your money is going.
– After you do the above, try out the budget exercises in the “Helpful Calculators” section at www.kobliner.com. It will help you to determine what exactly you are doing with your money.
YOUR FIRST APARTMENT
After a few years in the dorms, you may be itching to move out, and perhaps into an apartment. There are upsides to living in an apartment – you can cook your own meals, and there aren’t any pesky resident assistants (often called RA’s) to watch over you. Darya Rotblat, the associate director for Syracuse University’s Office of Orientation and Off-Campus Programs provides some helpful tips on how to find the right housing for you:
– Pick a location, and know what your needs are.
– Consider price.
– Get to know the landlord. Ask questions about repairs, utilities, when he or she will enter your apartment and where the nearest bus stop is in order to get to class.
– Check out the parking situation and find out where guests can park and whether they will need a guest pass.
– Research the apartment or house online and/or talk to previous tenants.
– Carefully review your lease; read the fine print.
YOUR FIRST CAR
You may come to find in college that you need a car to get around. Your apartment is a few miles away from campus and you need to drive to class, or your boyfriend or girlfriend goes to a nearby school and you plan on visiting him or her on the weekends.
Kelley Blue Book’s Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and market analyst, offers some advice on buying a car:
– Decide what kind of car you want based on your needs and what you can afford.
– Do research on the car. Sites like www.kbb.com make it easier to find out information on cars.
– When you go into a dealership, be prepared.
– Try not to buy your car at the first dealership you visit, and don’t buy the first car you look at.
– Look for different financing options.
– Be sure to test-drive the car.
– Take insurance costs into account.
YOUR FIRST BREAK-UP
One thing many people tend to do in college is fall in love … and break-up. Your first break-up can be absolutely awful, and the other stresses of college can make it seem unbearable. Lyness has some advice on getting through this type of complicated situation:
– Talk with friends and family about the breakup and count on them to be there for you.
– Don’t think too much about your former relationship; you don’t want it to control your focus.
– Write about your feelings in a journal, or search for a different creative outlet to release your emotions.
– Do not look for relief in alcohol or anything else that will restrict you from truly feeling better.
– Try throwing yourself into your school work – go to class, study with someone else, take notes, meet with your teacher.
– Make an appointment with someone at your college’s counseling center.
