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Advice to college-bound seniors.........posted May 11, 2008

-by Melissa Apter

"This is just like summer camp!" loudly proclaimed the girl outside my cinder-block dorm room during freshmen orientation.

Going away to college is a bit like summer camp; no parental supervision, late nights with friends and largely being responsible for yourself - responsible being the key word. The same girl whose enthusiasms echoed throughout the hall got drunk at a party that evening and slunk back into the dorm at 6 a.m.

With all the freedoms that await soon-to-be college freshmen it can be a terrifying task to find a niche and not get sucked into the pitfalls of being on your own for the first time.

The hardest part about going away was "definitely not knowing anyone. It was really hard not having any friends, but most people at least were in the same position," said Melissa Ludwig, a freshman at James Madison University.

For starters, try to be friendly to your roommate and those who live around you as they may be your immediate source of friends. "During our first week called "welcome week" my roommates and I left our doors open and everyone just wandered in and out. That's how I met my closest friends. I also just introduced myself to anyone I met at orientation events," said Melissa Cohen, a freshman at New York University.

Clubs, sports and, yes, Hillel are also great ways to meet new people of similar interests.

Once fears about friends and roommates are squelched the most difficult and recurring problem a college student must tackle is time management.

"In high school time is pretty much managed for you because you have class every day and you're in school for so many hours," said Cohen. "I only had 2 1/2 hours of class Monday-Thursday, so I had a lot of free time and I had to make sure I was using it well. If you don't manage your time well, everything starts to pile up and can be really overwhelming."

The fact that you are not in classes as many hours a day as you were in high school can be incredibly misleading. True, you will not have as many homework assignments, quizzes or exams, but you will have hours of reading, and every assignment turned in is worth a significant chunk of your final grade.

Try not to procrastinate because when the weekend rolls around you will want to go out and celebrate with your friends. If need be, learn to say "no"- there will always be another party, another "awesome" session of ultimate frisbee. As Ludwig says,"have fun but remember you're there to get an education."

Another matter to consider is how involved you want to be with Jewish life on campus and what your options are should you want to remain active.

A great place to start is the Hillel web site. On the left side bar of their main page there is a "Hillel's guide to Jewish life on Campus" button. Simply type in your college or university's name and information regarding Jewish campus populations, Jewish studies and the availability of kosher meals will appear.

Over the summer place a call to your campus' Hillel or Jewish Student Union. Find out what groups they have, when services are, and if they have a branch of Koach (the Conservative movement on college campuses).

Most of all remember to embrace the experience and gain as much as possible from it. Said University of Maryland freshman Julia Bernstein, "Be open to new ways of living. It's okay not to do everything the same way you have for 18 years. Those changes are what makes college so exciting and fun."