By Connor George, The Whetstone

Senior Christian Tyler is a busy guy.

He is on three sports clubs, including track, cross country and soccer. During his junior year, he was the vice president of the National Society of Leadership and Success).

But he was not always this busy.

He had a difficult time as a freshman adjusting to Wesley.

“It was hard adjusting to so much free time,” he said. “I would get distracted.”

 

He regrets not joining soccer his freshman year. He could have made a lot more connections.

But during his second freshman semester, he started going to the Student Support Center and got the help he needed to pass.

It’s not easy being a freshman. Just out of high school, college is like entering a new world. Students get lost and confused. But there are ways to more easily become a busy and successful college student.

The top six “roadblocks most college freshmen will face,” according to mycollegeguide.org https://mycollegeguide.org/articles/college-courses/college-freshmen-problems, include loneliness and homesickness; poor time management and organizational skills; financial issues; pressure to choose a major or feeling stuck in one; roommate issues; and stress.

Ryan Gilman, a freshman from Maryland, has yet to decide on a major.

He said he’s interested in technology, which is leading him to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program.

“The amount of work is different,” he said. “I am still trying to manage my time better. Plus finding the right crowd to hang around.”   

Junior Kevin Flores-Gomez is an accounting major and has been on the soccer team for three years.

“If you go to Wesley, I would highly recommend you join a sports team,” he said. “It gives you a reason to stay and gives the opportunity to meet more friends.”

Freshman Davis Morton is majoring in business administration, and is still adjusting to all of the free time he has.

“I have so much more free time, and it so far feels a lot easier than high school,” he said.

He misses his home in North Carolina.

“It takes about six and a half hours to get up here,” he said. “I barely get to see my family and friends especially my dog.”

Junior Alex Haber majors in Exercise Science. Like Morton, his biggest problem used to be time management.

“I was not used to having so much time to myself so I had to learn how to balance my social life and school.” Haber said

“My advice to freshman coming in is finding a good way to study, such as a study group. You can build connections with other people who are in the same major that could possibly help you down the road in life.”