And Here We Go!
“And here we go!” These were the words likely flying in-and-out of my head while taking off via plane from Mobile Alabama’s regional airport. Before I could blink twice, I was on my second-flight-ever to my second visit (ever) to Bucknell University.
The biggest difference between jetting through the clouds on this flight as opposed to the last one is I’m not scheduled to return home until Christmas – four months away. Although four months absent from home may sound like a piece of cake, and I should suck-it-up-butter-cup, the weight of transitioning from my small hometown to college felt like an anvil dropping on my chest from one of those Wile E Coyote scenes in the Looney Tunes.
How do I handle the northern, frozen tundra of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (where Bucknell is located) as a southern boy from the hot and humid gulf coast of Alabama? Will I make friends or be considered a lame? Is the course load going to be overwhelmingly hard and ultimately cause me to flunk out? –
I had question-after-question-after-question, and you know what, you will too.
Some of the best advice I can give to you as an incoming first-year student is to not allow the multitude of questions in your head about college-life invoke self-doubt. Believe in you, your path, your greater destination.
Replace self-limiting thoughts about your ability to succeed in college with empowering ones instead. It’s vitally important to pay attention to the negative self-chatter amplified in your head and quiet the noise with a game-changing, winning mindset.
For example, instead of saying to myself, “The weather in Lewisburg is going to suck!” I could have said, “The snowfall in Pennsylvania is going to be a nice change of pace from the Alabama heat.”
Both you and me have the power to change the negative narrative that goes on in our head. Yes! You put yourself in the power position regarding multiple situations even beyond the transition to college when you forecast success not failure.
Change the scenery on your college campus to be one that feels like home-away-from-home by thinking of ways you will win in this new environment, new season of your life. Change is so good. Embrace it. We evolve due to good, positive change. So, it behooves you to think of the multitude of ways you can win alongside countless others making the adjustment of home to college.
With that said, what is one positive thought you will rehearse at least 10 times in your head today about making the move to a new school? Start working on your transition mentally even before stepping foot on campus. “And here we go!”