Much like many other students out there, I have spent my whole life preparing for this moment. The moment when I wave my family goodbye and enter this new chapter of my life called College. The moments that lead up to this transition are all about preparation: considering what major to pursue, dedicating hours of work to create the perfect essay, filling out Financial Aid forms, submitting scholarship applications… the list goes on and on. And yet, this elaborate process can never fully prepare you for college. There are still so many things that remain to be mentioned. So, I’ve decided to make my own list of advice I wish someone would have told me before I moved in at the start of this academic year:

1. OnIowa is not the only week you have to make friends

Being idealistic, I went into On Iowa! thinking I would find many of my friends in that first week. While for some students, this may be the case, I quickly learned that this is not always true. In fact, it can be more difficult to find the people you click with in that first week due to the fact that you are surrounded by people of all varying interests. While it still is only the beginning, I’ve already started to notice that most of my friendships stem from the classes and extracurriculars I’m doing. I would say, don’t stress out if you don’t find “your people” right away. Trusting the process means letting things happen when the time is right, without forcing anything to occur. We aren’t all on the same timeline, so the amount of time it takes one person to find their place at this university will not be the same as the amount of time it takes for you to do the same.

2. The library isn’t always the best study space

While the library certainly is reliable when it comes to having a quiet place to study, I’ve found that it hasn’t always been the place where I focus the best. Depending on your preferences, switching up your study space may actually make your study sessions more interesting, and thus you’ll be more efficient. At a university as large as the University of Iowa, there are tons of lesser-known study spaces that might work better for you. I’m still searching for them, but if you’re reading this, you get to be in on my favorite place to study that literally no undergraduates know of (or as far as I’m aware): the fourth floor in the Pomerantz Career Center. Depending on the weather, you can choose to either sit indoors in a small, quiet room or outdoors on a peaceful balcony overlooking Iowa City. Anyway, that’s been my favorite study spot so far, but there are of course so many other places to go, such as the Poindexter Cafe (another one of my favorites). This leads me to my next point…

3. Want to save money on coffee? Go to the Poindexter Cafe

First, let me clarify that this is not an ad. I just think this is a really great hack. While my suitemates and I were on a coffee crawl during OnIowa week, we learned that the Poindexter Cafe offers students a year-long coffee membership for unlimited refills of nearly any drink on the menu. Although the price is steep, at $100, if you find one or two people to split the price with, this could be a great way to save money. This deal comes in the form of a plastic coffee cup, which simply has to be handed to the barista to “purchase” your order. Highly recommend!

4. Record your lectures

Depending on the class, the professor will cover a lot of information not mentioned on the slides. Not only this, but they will go at a pace too fast for you to write down and comprehend everything all at once. This is where your phone comes in! There are plenty of apps out there that are dedicated specifically to recording lectures, and I’ve found this to be one of my most useful study tools. By doing this, you can go back to parts of the lecture where you missed content or listen to a lecture while you’re on the go.

5. You probably will miss home more than you think

With all the new faces, unrecognizable places, and stressors that come with college, chances are there will be parts of home that you’ll quickly realize you miss. This may be your parents, your close friends, your dog, your room (that you had all to yourself), etc. If you are feeling this way so early on, you are just one of many college students, and the best remedy is time… and FaceTime. One of the biggest things that has helped me push through the difficulties of transitioning into college has been keeping in touch almost daily with those that I miss, whether that be through video calls, group chats, or other forms of communication. College is all about starting a new chapter of your life, but not starting an entirely new life. No one should expect you to adjust to college right away. The transition from the life you were used to to the life you have here is a bumpy road, and if you miss the things present in your life before, that is totally okay (and honestly, expected). While it hasn’t even been a month yet, I already am noticing that my homesickness has lessened as I’ve settled in more. Adjusting is something every student will undergo, but the amount of time that takes will vary.