Any Tips/Help?

[Opossum My Possum]

So, I'm a twenty-two year old female who dropped out of high school due to social anxiety and bullying issues.
I am disabled (Social anxiety, and back problems--- but I can walk, just back pain in general), but I'm tired of staying home all the time and doing nothing with my life. I do not currently have my GED, but I know I can get it easily. (The only issue is math.)

I'm 100% terrified, but also excited about the idea of going to college. I want to go to college for art and psychology, which, as I've gotten older, has really begun to interest me. I'm terrified, however, due to my bad experiences with school in the past, as well as my social anxiety. I'm also terrified because I've had an issue with homework in the past. However, I do believe that I'm both older and more mature now, (dang, I sure hope so!) and should be able to keep up with my homework just fine.

I suppose this is for anyone who is currently in college, or who went to college. I just need to speak to some people about it. What can I expect? And how scary is it, really? I wouldn't be staying on campus, I live a bus ride away from the college in my city, so that's one thing I need not worry about.

Any advice or tips you can give me would be super helpful!

 

[Esmeray]

DO NOT TAKE ON A HUGE LOAD YOU'RE FIRST SEMESTER.

That is my advice to you, especially given your history. I took six classes my first run, and did not do well. I did so bad that I ended up in academic probation and my stress/anxiety went up through the roof to the point I was having attacks for the first time...ever.

I suggest starting with two or three classes just to get a feel of it before deciding to take on more. Also take classes you'd like first, so maybe one that's a bit easier, and then one that's a bit harder. The best thing about college is that you can pace yourself!

Oh yeah, and if you don't want to worry yourself with face to face confrontation, there is this beautiful thing called ONLINE CLASSES. They're great! <3

 

[Lea]

Don't take morning classes!!! It might seem easy to do at first but when you have to start waking up an hour or two after the light has kicked in then you'll regret not taking my advice.

Try to pack as light as possible!!! On the first day of school(Or maybe even before that) ask your teachers about what books you'll need to bring to school. Some classes I had in the past only required me to bring certain textbooks with me only for the first few weeks before I didn't have to bring em in again until the end of the semester.

Also be sure to ask your teachers for help if you ever need it. Some teachers have pricky attitudes, so it may seem heard to tolerate them but they can turn out to be a great resource of information if you choose to go that route.

Try to do your assigned work as early as possible instead of waiting the last minute to do it. Doing it the last minute may work for some people since for some odd reason, that sudden sense of urgency causes them to react and work beyond their normal capabilities which in turn leaves you with a pretty solid paper. If you can finish your work in a timely manner however, you may be able to get your teacher to look over it for you so you can get pointers on how to remove most of the mistakes made in it before actually having to turn it in.

That's all I can think of at the moment but I hope that helps.

Moving on. If you're an introvert which I assume you are then it varies from person to person. I myself prior to going to college was quite the introvert due to having very little social interaction with people outside of my immediate family over a 9 year period. With that noted, my first few days were utterly horrifying as one would expect but one of the things that helped me get over it was a sudden realization I had. Everyone else(Except for the Sophomores and up) was just as scared shitless as me which sort of put us all in the same boat. Over time, we all began to become aware of our surroundings before going to college felt pretty much like school for adults(Which it is really). What I'll say here though is that the best way to lighten your scary first fews day of college is to acquaint yourself with it to the point that you're comfortable with you're surroundings. Being left in the dark both literally and in a metaphorically sense can be scary so turn on the light and make the unknown not so unknown anymore by getting a clear understanding of whatever you'll be doing.

 

[Jorick]

You can expect an almost entirely different atmosphere than high school. The clique culture of high school gets watered down a lot in college since you're no longer stuck with the same groups of people for the whole year. I also hated high school, but I found college just fine. You can remain almost anonymous in classes if you want, and if you're not staying on campus then your contact with other students will be minimal. You can almost entirely cut out human contact with online classes, though I would not recommend those for difficult subjects or things you struggle with since they require a lot of solo learning.

It's really not scary at all. Might be overwhelming at first just because it's a new thing, but for the most part I found that at both colleges I attended everyone was pretty chill and just wanted to get through their classes with decent grades. On that note, most colleges offer a lot of great resources like tutoring to help people who need a little bit more than a professor can provide for an individual student, so if you have any worry about keeping up with it all then make sure you check out what your prospective college offers for that sort of thing before making your choice.

 

[Kestrel]

Bit more specific to add to the more broad strokes already given;

A lot of people with a psychology major go through a 'full of shit' phase, usually the first year up until they get some hands-on experience which is basically a figurative kick to the balls. It's advised you have some friends outside of your study to hang out with or retreat to, because whether you see through the BS or not doesn't really matter, it can be stressful to deal with either way. Psychology students aren't bad people and it's not like they can't be fun to hang out with. Some of them never really go through this phase. But if you do have social anxiety make sure you have plenty of opportunity to cut loose from it.

Every study will encourage you to reflect upon who you are and probably ask you to write a paper about it occasionally. Art and psychology however, hand you a lot more tools to do this and you're going to be expected to use those tools. This is a good thing, but it can be very scary. Prepare yourself for this. Keep a bit of a diary, or at least take a long shower to think about your day. In essence it's the same as any other subject you'd study for; it's easier to split the exercise up than do it all at the last minute. The more time you take for this casually the less stressful it will be when you're presented with a deadline.

 

[junebug]

It's scary and stressful, I won't lie. In this case, I strongly encourage you to follow the advice already laid out, as well as take advantage of the academic counselors if you need someone to listen to your worries and distress, join clubs that interest you, and especially, tutoring. I have trouble with math as well, so tutoring is important, in my opinion. I feel it's also important to address any questions to your teachers and make time to study. Study, study, study. I understand what you're feeling, the first time I experienced college was when I was dually enrolled and it was terrifying. I had trouble making friends (didn't have any at all, was extremely afraid of being rejected, so on and so forth) and I ended up dropping out of the program due to depression and anxiety. We're all here for you, to help you see it through. I'm starting college next week, so we can be nervous and excited together. I wish you the best of luck in your psychology (I plan to major in that) and art studies! <3