 Hi everyone, my name's Kat. I'm currently a junior at Immaculata University studying psychology while minoring in business administration. In this video, I'm going to be sharing with you a few things I wish I knew while I was a freshman. Let's talk textbooks. Use your resources. Students at IU are able to use the IU app to see if anybody has posted the book that they need. If you don't see the book you need for sale, you can make a comment asking if people have the book. I'm on the softball team and before we rent or purchase any books, we always ask around to see if anybody has the book that we need. Another piece of advice would be to rent or purchase used books to save you money. My next piece of advice is by far the easiest. Show up to your classes. It's the easiest way to get good grades. Plus, you're paying for your education. Let's not let that go to waste. Being in 2020, things are a bit different with most classes being online. It's easy to simply open up your laptop or sit at your desktop and not really pay attention, but it's important to be mentally present for your courses. I find this piece of advice extremely helpful. Try to study somewhere outside of your residence hall or your bedroom. Quarantine has a lot of people going crazy, which is completely understandable, but the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard University backs up the fact that you shouldn't study where you sleep. Keeping computers, TVs, and work materials out of the room will strengthen your mental association between your bedroom and sleep. In turn, it will be harder to sleep because your brain will think you're in a place of work. For me, I sit at a desk and I do all of my schoolwork at that desk. I don't do my schoolwork anywhere else in the house, and I try to separate my schoolwork from everything else as much as I can. When I'm on campus, I like to use the study rooms where I can utilize the TVs and the whiteboards to practice my presentations, study for quizzes, do homework, etc. And when the weather's nice, my friends and I like to sit on the hills and take in the beautiful scenery and take in a breath of fresh air while we have the chance. My next piece of advice is short and sweet. You can't keep your body running on coffee and Red Bull. Make sure you always get a good night's rest and keep your body running on healthy foods. Take one class that has nothing to do with your major. It might be something that you think is interesting or you heard from a friend that would be cool to take. Who knows? You might find a new passion. For me, my forgiveness class was extremely intimidating. It wasn't a class I would typically pick out. However, my professor taught about relevant topics and things that were happening in the world today. It made me look at life in a different light and see things by a different perspective. I actually found it really interesting and I highly recommend the class. And finally, just remember it's going to be okay. On my first day, I was beyond nervous. The thought of starting my softball career, meeting new friends, and leaving home for the first time made me want to run home. However, as soon as I met one person like me, it was so easy to open up and find my forever friends. Even though most classes are online right now, don't forget you're going to have fun. You're going to meet your lifelong friends. Your major stresses won't seem like such a big deal when you receive your diploma in a few years, so stop putting so much pressure on yourself and have fun. That's all I have for you in this video. Comment below. Are you in college? Are you entering college? I would love to hear about your future expectations. If you found this video helpful, please hit the like button and subscribe for more videos. Thanks for watching!