Homesickness, making friends, finding classrooms and learning to do laundry — Conventional… Homesickness, making friends, finding classrooms and learning to do laundry — Conventional wisdom dictates that incoming freshmen have many adjustments to make during their first few weeks on campus.

James Cox, the director of Pitt’s Counseling Center, said for the first few weeks of school most freshmen just try to learn to live on their own. Some students have never lived away from home, he said, so the jump to living independently can be staggering.

Some students reported adjusting well — feeling relieved that their first days didn’t resemble the scarier scenes in some movies. But for others who might be longing for help, Cox offered some suggestions for adjusting to life on campus.

“Students that come from a small area or a small high school can find the move to a large urban institution overwhelming,” Cox said.

While the invention of cell phones and texting have reduced homesickness on campus, students still have some obstacles to overcome, he said.

Some students, such as freshman Catie Cohn, have smaller fears about living on their own.

“I am most scared about laundry,” Cohn said. “I’ve never done it in my life, that’s the one thing my mom always did for me.”

Though many students have their own individual challenges to overcome, one of the main difficulties almost all freshmen face is adjusting to the workload and learning how to manage their time, Cox said.

“Most students are used to mastering their work with little effort,” Cox said. “But when they come here, they find out they actually have to study and occasionally ask for help.”

Students seeking help with course work have a number of resources at their disposal, including the Academic Resource Center in the Gardner Steel Conference Center. At the ARC, students can attend study skills workshops and receive peer tutoring and advice from retention specialists.

Freshman Abby Czulada said she can attest to the difference in workload from high school to college.

“PittStart scared me during orientation when they said if you didn’t study in high school, you’d fail here. Now I actually have to study,” she said.

Some freshmen reported feeling relieved after the first week of class, Cohn among them.

“The classes actually aren’t scary,” she said. “I thought it’d be like ‘Legally Blonde’ where they kick you out of class if you answer a question wrong.”

For the freshmen and upperclassmen who remain stressed during the first few weeks of school, there are plenty of resources on campus to help manage the strain, Cox said. He suggests consulting Resident Assistants and First Year Mentors, taking part in the First Year Experience program and getting involved in organizations on campus.

Cox also recommends that students attend sports games and other events to begin feeling like they are a part of the campus community.

“No student can say that there’s nothing to do,” Cox said. “Even just finding people that have things in common and making new friends can help with the stress.”

And when the jump to college life seems overwhelming, he said students can always turn to the Counseling Center.

Cox wanted students to know that the Counseling Center is available for any student, not just freshmen, to come in and talk about their problems.

Services for students are always confidential and free.

The Counseling Center offers both personal counseling and group counseling. The groups consist of 6-10 people and students must commit to attending weekly meetings for one semester at a time, according to the Counseling Center’s website.

Along with counseling, the center also provides more than 100 programs each year alongside various organizations, student service providers and academic departments.

The programs range from stress management meetings to relationship survival discussions.

The Counseling Center is located in room 334 of the William Pitt Union and is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The center has extended hours on Mondays and Wednesdays, when it stays open until 9 p.m.