what @ofbowtiesandtrenchcoats - Tumblr Blog

emerald-imperial

please look at my cat’s feet

setheverman

ankle tattoos? lol what a hipster

ithelpstodream

keep up karen

dcw357

Jesus Karen…

rachelsgreen

kxte

i’ve waited a whole year to finally reblog this

don-t-let-them-catch-you

Been in my queue for a year

freshofftheboatdaily

teadalek

HAPPY LAO BAN SANTA DAY

lampurple

Actual good first-time college student advice:

Wear jeans/pants that “breathe” and bring a sweater, even if it’s scorching hot out, until you know which building blasts the AC to 60 degrees F and which feels like a sauna

Backpacks with thick straps are your friend! Messenger bags are cool and all but if you’re commuting with a lot of stuff, symmetrically styled backpacks are better for your back

You are your own person and you can walk out whenever you need to or want to, so long as you’re not disrupting the class. Meaning you can go to the bathroom without permission, take a breather if you’re anxious, answer an important phone call, etc.

If you don’t like the class on the first day, if you can- DROP THAT CLASS AND TAKE ANOTHER ONE! It’ll only get worse from there!

If you can, take a class outside your major; it’s a good break from your expected studies.

You are in charge of your schedule. Your adviser and guidance counselor is there to ‘advise and guide’ but if you don’t like certain classes and you can substitute for others, that’s your choice.

Consequently, if you are changing anything drastic in your plan, talk with your adviser and instructors.

Pay attention to your credit hours and grades. Never leave this to the last week of school, you will be sorry and stressed beyond belief!

Unless it’s a lab book or otherwise specified, go to the class for a week or so before buying an expensive textbook. Some classes, while having it on their required list, do not actually use the textbook a whole lot and you might find some of it scanned online. Rent if you can or buy used online (schools actually don’t give discounts). Use your best judgement on what you think you need.

Tell the people who go up to you selling or advertising things you are not interested in that you are in a rush to class and don’t have time to listen to them. It’s less rude and they’ll leave you alone.

The smaller the class, the better it is to have some sort of acquaintanceship with a couple classmates. They might save your ass if you are absent one day or need to study. And talking with them makes the time go by faster without it being so insufferable.

You don’t need to join a club or sport, but internships are cool and useful!

If you can afford it, take a day off once or twice each semester if you’re too exhausted. Just be aware of what you missed and if it was worth missing!

Your health is the most important, this goes for mental health too!! Note: College-age/upper teens is when mental disorders like depression and anxiety are most commonly diagnosed. Most schools have therapy services, especially during exam time. Look into it if you need to!

Communicate with your professor if you are having trouble with something. Anything.

Eat and stay hydrated. Bring a water bottle and snack to class.

All-nighters will happen but never go over 36 hours without sleep.

It’s going to be hard and there will be times you might think about giving up. This WILL happen. You just have to make sure what you’re doing isn’t making you absolutely miserable and/or there is something rewarding and positive to look forward to at the end!

saintmosshart

I did none of this and it bit me in the ass every time so this is EXCELLENT ADVICE.

ADDITIONAL ADVICE

Don’t let a mental health day turn into a mental health week because you will be so screwed.

Pay attention to the syllabus and do not lose it. A lot of professors put all of the assignment due dates in there and ONLY in there.

If your school has blackboard or moodle etc. CHECK IT. a lot of professors will only post certain info there and not talk about it in class

Check your student email account weekly. A lot of it will be unimportant junk but sometimes it’s the only way professors will communicate.

beauty-and-learning-blog

Check your student email multiple times DAILY.

fightostudy

THANK YOU. I’m so glad i have resources like this queued up in my ‘college’ tag bc honestly i was so stressed before

studyingallnight

Advice from someone who really fucked up their freshman year:

READINGS ARE NOT OPTIONAL.

I REPEAT. READINGS. ARE. NOT. OPTIONAL.

Put them in your schedule, read BEFORE class. And summarise it. For bonus points, come up with some questions about the text and go introduce yourself to your professor either after class or during office hours, and ask them about it. This will make them much more likely to remember you in a positive light (and possibly bump your grade up if you hit a hard patch.)

Your library will have a copy of your textbook. If you cannot afford to rent it, you can go to the library and borrow it from the front desk for a few hours whenever you need it. It is there for you, okay?

SO DO YOUR READINGS.

kereeachan

Here’s a big one: if at all possible, make your schedule conform to your best schedule. That is, if you’re a morning person, then either your study times or your classes should be in the morning whenever possible. Ditto for night owls and nights. If you end up in a situation like I did one semester (early bird in a night class due to no other choice) make sure you are prepared and give yourself extra time to study/work on that stuff since you may not be absorbing as much in class as you want.

Sometimes you can outright arrange your schedule to give yourself a weekday off where you can do a lot of studying and such then so you have the weekend more free. When you’re still doing the basic requirements (aka the stuff not related to your major, like basic math and language stuff) you’ll likely have more freedom to do this. I know one genius who somehow gave herself Mondays and Fridays off as well, I usually just managed one of them but it was still a boon to do that. An additional bonus to having a free weekday is that on weekdays things like the library run on regular hours instead of shortened ones.

ALWAYS put your regular hours on a dorm survey when they’re working on room assignments. There is nothing worse than a night owl stuck with an early bird. Even if you generally like each other it will play havoc with at least one of your sleep schedules and that can cause issues.

Check out all campus eateries and their food options and hours early on. I mostly stuck to the cafeteria and this small Italian place we had, but for other kids the coffee shops or the Mexican grill were much more their thing. Check hours, check menus, if you have food allergies check their accommodations for such. Get that all handled.

Find your nearest grocery store. Yes, even if you have a meal plan. You can’t always control what’s one the menu weekly so if you see a long line of food you don’t like, swing by the store and get some basic stuff to tide you over.

Cafeterias that offer takeout can be a huge blessing. You can fill the takeout box with food. For example, for breakfast I usually got a ton of slices of bread, some peanut butter, and a couple bananas plus a large cup of milk. That was several sandwiches plus bananas and milk, which was great! I usually drink a gallon of milk a week but since I kept getting milk take out from the cafe I needed to buy less than half a gallon a week. Take advantage of how much food you can fit in that box.

Keep an eye on campus events. During my sophomore year the school randomly had a free trade fair with tons of nice things you could buy free trade. There are often neat things like that coming up, sometimes with little warning.

hopeless--geek

Um… Maybe it was just my experience, but I never read the text book. If I did all the reading they told me to do I’d be reading about 4 thick chapters every other day. I’d literally have no free time and my brain would’ve exploded. Often readings are optional you just have to figure out witch classes are worth your time to do the readings. (Start each semester but doing the reading. It’ll become obvious Wich classes don’t need be the effort after a week or 2)

I’d often get bored in class and I’d either read along with the textbook or I’d make flashcards as I was taking notes and study right there in class.

There’s never a reason to be bored in class. Use the time as a time to study what you’re learning rather than thinking “ok so I’ll study this later”. I wasted a lot of time freshman year zoning out and doodling and then found myself cramming for the test later. If a class bores you to tears don’t let that hour be “a complete waste”