Finding Confidence in College
As a senior, I have spent a lot of my year reflecting on my time at MSU! I have analyzed the mental, physical, and spiritual changes I have gone through over the past four years. From being a nervous, out-of-state student, to being a self assured Mississippi State Senior, here are three of my tips on how to find YOUR own confidence in college! (Without the cliches, thank you!)
Understand that you are not alone in your new-found struggles.
The day I sat down and told myself, “you are not alone!” was a day that truly changed the trajectory of my college career. I allowed myself to be vulnerable with friends when I struggled in class, when I was upset because of a boy, or when I was rejected from an organization I wanted to be a part of! To my surprise, lots of ladies around me were able to say, “I am struggling too,” and we could get up and move through it together! Holding each other up helps us turn off that little voice in our head that spits negativity at us!
2. Reward your achievements!
Yay! You made a 85 on the test you studied really hard for? Girl, go treat yourself! I started doing this my sophomore year. Not only did it encourage me to work harder, but it helped myself capture that feeling of pride! Everyone is allowed to celebrate their success!
3. Stay connected to old friends, while making new ones!
You might think, “how would that help me become confident at all?” Well, as an out-of-state student, I sometimes could feel alone in my ways of thinking, or how I went about certain situations! When I would talk with my high school friends though, I would feel reassured that I wasn’t a fish out of water, just a fish in a new pond! Staying connected with my old friends kept me rooted in who I was as a person as I continued to walk the path of self-discovery! (The path never really has an end, does it?)
Along with those, I recommend listening to a lot of Lizzo! That woman could hype up a cardboard box. Seriously though, college is hard enough without beating yourself up. Stay confident in who you are and where you’re going. And if you don’t know where you are headed yet, remember that someone else doesn’t know where they are going either!
