surviving college: advice from a student
by shelby lane
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Surviving College Life: Tips from a BSC student
College life is a mixed-emotion situation filled with excitement, hard work, fun and more hard work. Some people may look at college and think it’s just high school again and they don’t want to bother with it. However, college, whether you plan to attend a small or large school, can be extremely fun, rewarding and character building. College life is simply figuring out what you are doing, planning and getting into the groove of things. Once you do that, you’re good to go. So, for all you who are planning to start college soon, here’s just a few tips from someone who has been where you are and knows the struggle.
Tip 1: Planning
I, a student who is not very organized or planned herself, must tell you to go ahead and start working on planning. Go ahead and get yourself a calendar and a planner (or maybe 3) and write out EVERYTHING you have to do that week. Once you start taking multiple classes, it’s hard to keep up with due dates, homework and studying while also trying to keep up with personal things like haircuts and doctors’ appointments. Yes, I know this probably seems cliché, girly and immature but boys, you could benefit from this too. (yes they do make “masculine” planners, don’t worry) One mix up in your schedule can result in horrific things such as missing assignments which leads to obtaining a zero on your seven page paper which leads to having to do makeup work and extra credit on week nights and dealing with your mother when she finds out you’re failing. That is if you still live at home, if not, it results in a bad grade which results in a more stressed out college student eating ice-cream while pouting and missing more assignments. So, moral to the story, give you’re busy, hard-working mind a break and take 10 minutes out of your Sunday night to write out your schedule for that week. I promise you will not regret it.
Tip 2: Be Prepared
Being prepared is KEY to succeeding in college classrooms. Teachers love when you go above and beyond on being ready for assignments or group activities in class. No matter how mean or uncooperative you think your teacher is, I can promise you that they know a good student when they see one and your hard work and efforts will pay off. However, being prepared for classroom work is not the only thing you should be prepared for. You should be prepared for the whole day when you go to your first class. Pack easy snacks in your backpack because we all know you can’t focus in class when your stomach is growling louder than your teacher talks. Bring coffee and lots of water to drink throughout the day to keep yourself hydrated. Also, this is college people. The high school days of dressing all fashionable and nice to classes are over, it’s time for real business. Studies show that the more comfortable you are, the higher the exam scores and I know this is true from personal experience. This tip given to me by the wise Dr. Vanzo, helped be to bring my overall grade up from an F to a B plus. Yes, miracles do still happen. (Cardello, Schutz)
Tip 3: Get Involved
Getting involved in your school is one of the fun parts about college and may also help you in your academic side of school as well. Being involved in your school will help you meet new people and get you more comfortable in the schools atmosphere. This also helps you meet people that could be potential study partners in the calculous class you’re struggling with. Getting involved with school projects and clubs also looks great on other college applications, if you are transferring, and even on future resumes. Leadership roles and clubs shown on resumes shows a boss that people can trust you to be in charge and could get you that job you really, really need in order to stay in college and pay your tuition fees.
Tip 4: Stay Encouraged; Stay Confident
Finally, last but not least, tip number 3 is encourage yourself and be confident. Encouragement can take you a long way when struggling in the college world. Bad grades on exams or missing assignments can get you pretty down in the dumps, especially when your education means so much to you. You can stay confident and encouraged not by other people but by yourself. Write yourself encouraging notes in your binders and think about the good and happy things in your life rather than the bad things. Remember that you are better off than someone else in the world and you are doing the best you can. Some people have different ways of keeping their own head up. Maybe it’s listening to music, reading encouraging things or even encouraging others. Whatever it is, find it and find it fast. This may be one of the things that gets you through this crazy, busy, stressful, yet one of the most fun times in your life.