What to Know as You Begin College

Going to college brings many emotions and challenges, from excitement to fear and everywhere in between. These natural responses often cause us to “get ready” mentally, physically, and spiritually.

To be well prepared in any situation, you need to accurately assess available resources, potential difficulties, and expected outcomes. As a young adult starting college, you have internal and external resources—know what they are and utilize them.

Know Your God

God is sending you to a specific college for a season and reason. Ask Him to work within you and through you to make this time fruitful, memorable, impactful, and groundbreaking! He will not waste the difficulty you face, the loneliness you might initially feel as a freshman, nor the overwhelm of young adulthood. 

Allow God to know you intimately. Be vulnerable with God and slowly develop the courage to be vulnerable with others. Vulnerability is foundational to connection, compassion, creativity, and innovation. Stand out, be different, and be your authentic self. That’s God’s intention, or He would have made us all alike!  

Know Yourself

For the summer between high school and college, slow down and learn about yourself.

A healthy way to learn about who we are is to read the Bible to discern what our Creator says about our identities. Another is to have honest conversations with your parents and family, which requires a softness and openness of heart to receive their feedback with love. Believe them when they highlight your strengths, and beware of defensiveness that can rob you of the opportunity to work on areas that need improvement. Approach this process with nonjudgmental curiosity.

There are also lots of online personality quizzes to help you understand yourself. Are you introverted or extroverted? Thinker or feeler? What's your communication style, attachment style, learning style? What are your values? Notice how you're making decisions, what burns you out, what inspires you? Share the quizzes and results with friends and family, and have fun learning about each other.

Know the Importance of Balance

Make the most out of your college experience—with an eye toward finding balance. What are you really there for? Socializing, obtaining a degree, finding a spouse? Are you using these four years to explore and experiment? Develop a game plan for well-rounded success and exercise moderation. Too much of anything, even a good thing, becomes troublesome. Don’t party too much! Don’t spend too much time in your room! You read it here first, don’t study too much! Anything excessive is destructive!

Know Your Supports

As believers, some of our greatest resources are our relationship with God, fellowship with other Christians, and the Bible. We also need support networks. Know your people: family, friends, mentors, former school community, sports team members, work peers, coaches, counselors, and church community. How are you engaging and maintaining your connection to your relational resources?   

Know Your Needs

Adulting can be humbling! As a young adult, you’ll confront an important fact of life: you need help. Identify what you need help with and what resources you can lean on to set you up for success. The greatest giants of faith modeled for us the ability to collaborate with others to get things done effectively, efficiently, and honorably. 

Locate your campus’s writing center, library, gym, health center, clubs, and counseling center. Also, be available to help others. You have so much to offer. Notice the needs of others—like you, your young adult peers are still learning to ask for support. That student who lives a plane flight away might be homesick and desperate for a homemade meal. Use your resources to share a homemade meal. Give someone a ride. Give someone the gift of your presence, active listening, or a prayer.  

Know That Change Is Difficult

Difficult does not equal bad. Transitions require learning, unlearning, and relearning. It requires time, patience, accepting setbacks, and embracing mistakes. An honest person knows the most profound things in life are difficult. Difficulty gives you the potential for growth, depth, elevation, and expansion. It means you’re in the right environment for experiencing God and life in new and meaningful ways. 

Enjoy the Journey

It’s normal to have mixed feelings as you transition from high school to college. Feel your feelings, talk to someone, exercise self-compassion, savor the fleeting moments, and capture the lessons before you forget them. Most of all, enjoy the journey!