/lit/ - Literature

>>7003797
>1500 for an entire semester.
Where I live, you can eat healthily for about 50 bucks a week if you don't eat out and choose the right groceries. If you're willing to eat nothing but cereal grains and canned meats, you can probably live for about... 35? Honestly I've never tried.

Anyway, I'd say you can survive on 200 dollarydoos a month pretty handily if you don't eat out. Make a budget now and learn to stick with it. Try to make some friends to split grocery bills with and hope you've got a kitchen suite in your dorm. If not, go to your local goodwill and pick up a hotplate and a george foreman grill.

On a more personal note, I remember feeling exactly the same way when I went to college. I seriously contemplated suicide for a few months in my freshman year. My entire life up to that point had been managed by others and my job had just been to do well in school. Suddenly I was making my own curriculum, I had no support, no friends, and my family was hours away.

If you would like some advice, I provide this: In your own mind, accept your fear. With others, hide it. Keep your door open. You are in a building with like 50 other people who are exactly as terrified as you are. The extroverts among them will be actively hunting for friends because they are *extra* terrified. Accept these people, learn about them, and decide if you can tolerate them. If you're asked to do something, try it. If you don't like it, don't do it again. You will be tempted to hide, and you will be tempted to exert influence on others. Resist both temptations. Recognize that the place you are in is strange, and the people stranger, and accept that no one will save you. Never, under any circumstances, succumb to hopelessness. Recognize that when you're feeling anxiety or loneliness that these feelings are transient. Do your homework. Do not get drunk or high until your homework is done. If you are lost, it is okay to ask basically anyone.