Hi Emrys. I'm sorry to hear that you are struggling so soon at school. I too, went through a very difficult time in college and wound up dropping out because of it. I had many of the same problems you are having - the worst one was in my 3rd semester, my roommate from the first year left, whom I had developed a very close friendship with. I was placed with someone I didn't know, that turned out to be very emotionally difficult to deal with. For instance, she would come in late at night with friends, sit on her bed, and talk about me while I was asleep (but who could sleep through that?) saying really awful (I mean - honestly terrible) things about me that were racially charged.

I tried to have my room switched, but there were none available. So, for me it was the straw that broke the proverbial camels back unfortunately and I left never to return. I always regretted it, although in the end I did manage to make my way up through the ranks workwise and now, am doing quite well, but I'm 53, and it took a very long time to do so.

You've gotten some good advice here already and I'll second much of it. It's possible the school isn't a good fit for you (my sister switched colleges after her first year into a small one and did much better that way), or it may just be you need a room change in which case you'll need to be very pro-active about letting the RA know what is happening and what your needs are. Also, the first year is difficult regardless, for many. Being on your own for the first time, although exciting, is also kind of terrifying in many ways. I remember how great it felt to finally be away from the restrictions of my parents (even though there weren't too many) but honestly? I was not well equipped yet to be able to fend for myself, didn't have the discipline to study when needed and all the freedom and such was more than I could handle. So, if you need support of any kind, don't be shy about finding it too.

I only wish back in 1977 there were better resources available to me, even the internet so that I wouldn't have felt so alone in what I was going through.