17 Things I Learned My First Year of College
1. Find all tutoring centers and their locations. Use them.
2. Laundry takes a long time. Don’t sit for an hour on your phone while you wait for your clothes to dry. Take this time to do some homework, do your readings for next class, or catch up on some work.
3. Your schedule needs to suit your needs and your lifestyle. If you can’t bring yourself to open your eyes, get dressed, eat breakfast, and walk to your 8:30 AM class, don’t take an 8:30 AM class. If you have club meetings in the evenings, try to take classes earlier in the day. If you like taking 3 classes back-to-back, do it.
4. Do not spend time rewriting your notes if they’re not going to help you get the information in your head. You don’t need two copies of the same exact words. If your notes are messy or incomprehensible, use this time to make condensed summary sheets instead.
5. Find the gym. Go to the gym. Stay healthy. If you don’t like the gym, you can go running, go biking, play a sport, jump rope, play frisbee, anything. Make sure you are doing something active at least twice a week. It is so easy to get caught up in studying and being busy that you forget to take care of your health.
6. You don’t need to be super good at something to love it. If you’re worried that you’re not in the right major because other people seem to understand everything so quickly on their own while you need to work harder at it, you need to stop worrying. Work hard and do your best. Just because your classmate doesn’t need to study as much as you do, does not mean that you are not intelligent. Stop comparing yourself. There is no shame in getting tutored, there is no shame in failing an exam if you gave it your all. Pick yourself back up, learn from your mistakes, write out your Plan B, and move on. You can do it.
7. Use lysol wipes for your dorm/apartment and hand sanitizer for on-the-go. Wash your hands when you get back from class, before you eat food, after you use the bathroom, etc. You don’t want a runny or stuffy nose during exams, trust me.
8. You look fine. Stop stressing over yourself. No one cares what you look like taking the trash out.
9. You’re going to feel alone sometimes. You’re going to feel like you haven’t talked to people in three weeks. You’re going to miss your friends and your family and you might cry because of how overwhelming everything might get. Drink some cold water, get out of your room, call a friend, doodle, read, watch a movie. Don’t forget about your hobbies.
10. If you have a hold on your university account and cannot register for classes until it has cleared, do what you need to do to clear it before your registration time comes around. Do not wait until the last minute only to find that you can’t register for classes because you didn’t schedule a meeting with your advisor.
11. Go to career fair, even if it’s your freshman year. You’ll get a feeling for what it’s like to dress and talk professionally. There will be a lot of people, and it will be crowded. Take your updated resume with you. Talk to some recruiters. This will prepare you for when you actually need to find an internship or job.
12. Make at least one friend in every class. Not only will this help you talk to new people, but it will also save you when you’re stuck wondering at 11 PM whether or not your professor wants that essay double spaced.
13. Set some goals for yourself and plan how you’re going to accomplish them. Write out what clubs you want to join, if you want to get an internship, find an on-campus job, etc. Know what you want and go get it.
14. You’re going to need to learn how to deal with bugs on your own.
16. Always carry water with you. Always.
17. Time will fly. Make good friends, spend your time wisely, and study hard.
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