Freshman experience a wide-range of new experiences coming into college. Some fears they expect—others, they don’t.
After living on campus for nearly a full school year, freshmen class members provided insights on the highs and lows of what it’s like to start at this 37,000-student university and their overall review of their first year as an LSU student.
Worries before starting at LSU
One of the greatest fears from freshmen was about making friends; however, students interviewed said it wasn’t such a big deal.
“I’m an out-of-state student from Virginia, and I didn’t know anyone coming to LSU,” Jonathan Lynn, a political science freshman, said. “So I was really worried about making connections with not just friends, but close friends. I really think that would have been a lot more difficult had I not been involved in stuff like clubs or Tiger Band.”
Similarly, Trinity Bullock, a freshman psychology major, said, “Being an out-of-state student, especially from far up North, I was worried that coming to LSU was going to be a culture shock for me. I was scared I wasn’t really going to fit in or have an opportunity to make friends and meet my people.”
Bullock said her assumption was mistaken.
“As soon as I got here, I found that that was just not the case,” she said. “There were many events put on during Welcome Week where I found the friends that I still have today. Without that week of just activities and no class, I probably wouldn’t have the friends that I do today.”
Bullock said her biggest takeaway from being a freshman at LSU is “that they foster a great environment for the transition into college from high school by providing many social opportunities to meet people and be comfortable with where you are.”
Lauryn Rosenthal, an interdisciplinary studies freshman, talked about being nervous that other students would rely on “high school cliques” and not branch out in college.
“I thought everybody was going to be a lot more closed-minded than they were and that people weren’t going to be as accepting and open-minded,” Rosenthal said. “I thought everything would be just like high school again. In some ways it is, but I’m happy it’s actually not like that. I’m glad people grew at least a little bit from their time in high school.”
Freshman Jacob Fontenot pointed to another area of social stress: life in the dorm.
“I was really worried about dorm life honestly,” Fontenot said. “I thought it was going to be a lot harder to adjust to that than it was, especially when it came to the communal bathroom … It ended up being completely fine.”
How LSU can improve for future freshmen
Jonathan Lynn, a political science freshman, said seeking assistance through the university was difficult in the beginning.
“I think the most upsetting thing is it took me a bit of time to find out about certain resources that they had here, and then you find out about them, and it’s impossible to and really difficult to obtain the resources that are supposedly set up to help us, such as mental health and parking services,” Lynn said.
Safety is an area that surprised many students.
“When it comes to crime, they do not tell enough to students,” Eniola Oyadeyi, an industrial engineering freshman, said.
Oyadeyi advised students to never walk alone at night and always go places with friends because “I feel like you really have to protect yourself here.”
Rosenthal also said, “When I went on the tour of LSU, they promoted that it’s super safe here, and it’s just not. It’s remotely safe, and I wish they would be just a little more transparent about the area that LSU is in. They aren’t necessarily lying about it, but it’s not the full truth, so I wish they would acknowledge that more.”
Bullock talked about feeling in danger because of a broken lock on her hall door in South Hall last semester. Though they requested service, it was not fixed for a long time.
Because the door was unlocked and anyone could walk in, Bullock encountered men asking to use her bathroom late at night.
“I was terrified because why are these four random men trying to use my bathroom at the end of the hall when there’s an open public bathroom downstairs,” Bullock said.
She continued, “I felt that the school or whoever deals with safety really didn’t have that as a concern and that’s concerning to me. I hope other incoming freshmen do not have to deal with an occurrence like that or even similar to that.”
Freshman Abby Martin advised, “Carry pepper spray because it is not safe. The emails they send out about crime on campus are very frequent. It really scared me my first semester, especially as a woman, so just be aware of that while you’re here.”
What it takes to be a successful freshman at LSU
To do well in classes, Oyadeyi said, “You have to learn a lot of material yourself. A lot of the information you have to learn by yourself, so set up a daily schedule. Don’t neglect your schoolwork because I know it can be easy to get distracted, but you just have to find a balance between everything.
Rosenthal provided tips to succeed as a student.
“Go to class, and don’t skip,” she said. “Even if you think you know it all and can do it all by yourself, go to class. Your professors are there to help you. Their whole job is to help you, and make sure to use all available resources because LSU has so many.”
Bullock advised freshmen to go to as many events as possible when starting college.
“Find the people that you want to spend all those hours outside of class with,” Bullock said. “Find your future roommates or even the people that you want at your wedding one day. Overall, just find your people before you settle in because without a support system, it’s going to be hard to handle what you’re supposed to do for the next four years.”
Bullock said she would tell incoming freshmen that “it’s okay to not know where you are going or what you’re going to do in the future. There are people here on campus to help you with knowing. Advisers, friends, professors, there’s always someone you can ask for help from.”
