Advice from returning students on starting your first semester of college

By Karina Hartley
Staff Reporter

A beautiful part about being a college student is that we all have a different starting point. Whatever your journey thus far has looked like, it has brought you here, and wherever you may hope for it to take you, each of us experiences that first class, first day, first endeavor into higher education. Here’s a few kernels of advice that I’ve acquired throughout my college journey.

I didn’t take the most linear path. For most of my public school experience, I would hardly have called myself an academic. It wasn’t as if I lacked the desire to learn, but that desire stood in conflict with the weight of everything I had going on outside of school. Due to this, I dropped out of high school when I was 17, halfway through my junior year. I got my GED before too much time had passed, but it would be five years before I saw the inside of a classroom again.

Upon my return to the classroom, I was 22. Many of my peers were graduating college, and I was just then taking the first step. One of the most important things I learned during the gap in between was that each one of us are on our own timelines. The more you are able to recognize that each individual’s path winds and forks in an entirely unique way, the more satisfaction you will get from living up to none but your own standards. This is an undertaking often easier said than done. So, as a first step, I encourage you to rigorously scrutinize the structures that told you there was only one path that everyone is meant to follow. 

My time out of the classroom also primed me for the gratitude I would experience when I finally found myself back in it, as well as the stress that would come along with that. It’s hard to deny that stress. College courses are challenging, and the weight of it can feel crushing at times. My advice is to treat the gratitude and the stress as teammates and not rivals. College IS stressful at times, and it IS challenging, but what a privilege it is to engage with something that challenges you. What a gift to yourself it is to do hard things, and it is precisely in that process that we get what our tuition dollars are paying for.

 

One of the special things about engaging with the challenge of college is the way it can build confidence and deepen our connection with ourselves. Camille Murphy, a sociology major at LCC shared some pieces of advice and parts of her story. “What I would say to someone starting their first semester at college is that you are not defined by who you were,” she said. “Because I know that before I started at LCC, I didn't have the best grades. I had no life path at all, honestly. I was just flying by the seat of my pants.”

Murphy shared how connecting with people on campus helped her connect with herself. “By exploring the resources and professors and kind of just figuring myself out as well, I realized that I am smart and that I can do it, and I can get good grades and feel like I'm not killing myself for it.” She reflected on how this process helped with the urge to compare her journey to that of others. “The competition is never really between you and other people. It's only ever, can you do better than yourself?”

 

It’s not an uncommon experience for a student to restart their college journey at a different point in time. Jesse Depre is at LCC for music technology. “I came here back in 2022 and started in a summer semester for a DMAC program and burnt out immediately and quit because it just wasn't right for me.” He shared. “Then I came back about a year ago because I finally found specifically what I wanted to do, which was music technology, audio engineering, the love of sound.”

Depre shared that upon returning, three of his close family members died. In the wake of the trauma, Depre is grateful that people at LCC became a part of his support system. “It was a hard thing for me to go through. So having the counselor, having the success coach, having that support system to back me up, especially when you're going through all this and you already have bad habits to begin with for studying, it's a very successful thing to have behind you.” He said that one of the most powerful things you can do is connect with peers at the college and listen to the stories of others around you. “If you just break the ice, they'll tell you a lot about their story.” Depre shared that with each of these elements one can “thread a tapestry” and “slowly you'll realize, oh, there's a picture of what I'd like to do.”

 

For students who do begin their journey into college fresh out of high school, stepping into that transition may be jarring. J’len Pembroke is a theatre major who shared his experience of the differences between college and high school. Pembroke discussed some of what the bumps in the road looked like for him when he started at LCC in the fall of 2024, right out of high school. He said that he hadn’t decided a major early on, and it caused some disruptions. “I wasn't really paying attention to the classes I needed to take, so I took a whole English class that I did not need because I wasn't communicating and paying attention.” Pembroke also struggled to get the hang of college attendance. “I thought it was like high school where, if you miss a class, they'll contact you,” he said.

Through his experiences, he came up with some advice to pass on. “For incoming students, don't expect it to be an easy road,” he said. “You're going to struggle at times. There's going to be stressful assignments, stressful tests and quizzes that nobody wants to do.” Pembroke shared what he soon learned to be the key: “Communication is the top thing in college, you’ve got to communicate because if you don't communicate, how are they supposed to know you need help?”

 

Meaningful advice can come from professors as well, they all also had a first semester of college at one point. Elizabeth Robison, an anthropology and sociology professor at LCC shared some tips for students on how to build success into your college lifestyle. “Find ways to have your work schedule work around your classes or vice versa, but also make time to study. If you know that you're not going to study at home, find the places on campus where you think you're going to do your best studying.” She emphasized flexibility and knowing yourself and your habits. She said that getting out and meeting teachers will end up being a critical part of success at college. “You're just going to be more comfortable approaching the teacher with problems.”

Robison also emphasized the importance of keeping your physical needs aligned. “I know it helped me when I was in college getting the regular sleep that I needed and also eating at normal times,” she said, and noted the importance of keeping those things on a consistent schedule. “So I think if you can get some basic habits down as priorities, it helps with your classes as well.”