Real Advice from the College Senior to the College Freshman
1. Just buy the ebook. It’s cheaper for one, almost always. Plus, you’re probably not going to actually do the readings anyway so don’t worry about staring at a screen for too long. You also won’t have to carry around a ton of books, and you can use control + F to search for keywords when doing your homework.
2. Commuters: make friends with an on-campus student who has a meal plan. They probably won’t use all of their meals anyway, and will be more than willing to get you lunch. Plus then you don’t have to eat by yourself.
3. Look for a campus job. It will work better with your schedule.
4. Don’t be afraid to take extra classes, especially if they’re online (5 weeks and you’re done!).
5. Use your downtime wisely. If you have a 30 minute break, that’s an assignment you can knock out.
6. Make yourself dress up at least twice a week, even if dressing up just means wearing jeans instead of leggings. You’ll feel better, and elastic waist bands don’t tell you when you’ve put on weight.
7. Make new friends. High school friends are great but you’re probably only going to stay in touch with one of them. And that’s okay.
8. If you’re going to invest time into a relationship, make sure the person is worth it. Trust me on this.
9. If you let your professors know ahead of time when you’re not going to be there, do it. Even if you don’t think they’ll think its a good reason. They might surprise you, and even help you out with due dates.
10. Do your homework every week, even if the professor waits until the last minute to grade everything. Spending 20-30 minutes here and there is so much better than staying up all night and stressing yourself out at the same time you’re trying to do your finals.
11. Play a sport, get a workout partner, take a weight lifting class. You need to exercise, and you need accountability to stay with it.
12. Try to eat at least 1 vegetable a day.
13. Only 1 cup of coffee, then water.
14. Keep your laptop and phone chargers with you.
15. If you’re an athlete, look for a coaching job at the local high school. They pay good money and it looks great on a resume.
16. Do. not. put. everything. on. social. media. Not even your Snapchat story. Live in the moment, put your phone away, and especially don’t advertise it if you’re drinking (yes even if you’re 21). It just looks bad, if only to employers.
17. Pay cash for a reliable car to get you from A to B. Don’t stress yourself out with a car payment every month.
18. Always put money back in savings, even if it’s not a lot.
19. Purdue Owl. Enough said.
20. Get 8 hours of sleep. I promise you it makes all the difference.
