Jessica Linnell - Off to College. Now What? A Practical Guide to Surviving and Succeeding Your First Year of...

Off to College : Now What?

A Practical Guide to Surviving and Succeeding Your First Year in College

By

Jessica Linnell

Off To College: Now What? A Practical Guide To Surviving and Succeeding Your First In College

Copyright 2008 Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.
1405 SW 6th Avenue Ocala, Florida 34471 Phone 800-814-1132 Fax 352-622-1875

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SAN Number: 268-1250

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be sent to Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 1210 SW 23rd Place, Ocala, Florida 34474.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-314-3 ISBN-10: 1-60138-314-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Linnell, Jessica, 1979

Off to college : now what? a practical guide to surviving and succeeding your first year of college / by Jessica Linnell.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-314-3 (alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-60138-314-2 (alk. paper)

1. College freshmen--United States--Conduct of life. I. Title.

LA229.L438 2008

378.198--dc22

2008035308

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising here from. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bears memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

• Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
• Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
• Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
• Be a developer put up some birdhouses.
• Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
• Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
• Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
• Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
• Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
• If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
• Support your local farmers market.
• Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my family and friends who have believed in me throughout my life and writing career. A special thanks to all the experts who submitted advice to students and shared their experiences with readers. I would also like to make a special dedication to Robert Linnell, my late grandfather. He was an inspiration to me and always encouraged me to shoot for my goals, stand up for what I believe, and work hard in all I do.

Table Of Contents

Foreword

I closed the door to North Hall room 329 and turned around. As I looked past the new computer on the desk and the waist-high refrigerator sitting next to the extra-long twin bed, I could see Ben Hill Griffin Stadium staring back at me. After a few moments, I saw two people walk across the street toward the parking lot. They stopped, turned, looked for my window, and waved. I waved back. Mom and Dad were going homewithout me.

I was excited, nervous, anxious, and motivated. Name the emotion; I was feeling it that August afternoon at the University of Florida. I was now a Florida Gator, and there was no turning back. This was not a high school with 900 students where every teacher knew my name. This was a campus of 45,000 people where you were lucky to find a parking spot. My roommate was a friend from high school and had not arrived yet. I had no idea what to do next except unpack and hook up my computer. Unpacking went well, but getting the Internet to work was a different story. While struggling to figure out what an Ethernet cord was (who knew it did not come with the computer), I took a break and went to eat dinner at the dining hall. Luckily, another friend from high school who lived in the residence hall next to mine had a meal plan too. I explained my computer issues to him while we ate our first college meal.

There is more to the freshman experience than just picking out sheets and towels and searching for your new roommate on Facebook. Going to college is a life-altering experience. Author Jessica Linnells Off to College: Now What? A Practical Guide to Surviving and Succeeding Your First Year of College will empower you to prepare for college, make decisions after you arrive, and have a successful first year.

I was giv en a book similar to this one before going to college. It was an excellent resource to me and other freshmen that I got to know on my floor. It gave good insights and suggestions on how to succeed as a freshman, and I found myself pulling it out at different times throughout my first semester. Similarly, this book will provide you with the same useful information in an easy-to-read format that includes tips from fellow students and college adminis trators.