Hello again everyone! Today I’m going to reflect on my college experience so far close to the halfway mark (I still can’t believe it). These are just some of my personal pieces of advice so take it or leave it! Alright let’s get started:
- People in college don’t care what you do as long as you’re not bothering anyone. Coming from high school where everything feels like it matters so much and everyone is nosy, it’s natural to assume that it will be that way in college too but that couldn’t be further from the truth! In my experience, college has been a great place to be myself without judgment from others. I’ve seen a student riding a unicycle into a dining hall and no one batted an eye! It’s really liberating to be able to just worry about yourself and your studies.
- Do the readings when they’re due! I still occasionally slip on readings and it just creates more stress for me down the road. I also find that if I miss a reading, I never go back and make it up so that’s just a piece of class I can’t participate in. Also, in small discussion-based classes, like we have in Claremont, it’s pretty obvious to everyone who has and hasn’t done readings. What’s helped me a lot has been planning out when I’m going to do each reading (especially with longer texts) so that I can get it all done and annotate without cramming.
- Be realistic about your living and study habits. I went into college with a lot of aspirations about the kind of person and student I wanted to be based on how I was in high school. However, we as people grow and change all the time so what works in one setting may not work in another. For example, I learned that I am more of a night person than a morning person and also figured out what time of day is best for me to do certain assignments. This a natural part of college and growing up in general. The better you adjust to your new environment, the more successful you’ll be going forward.
- Listen to your body. This is a general discovery I’ve learned recently and it’s so true. In high school, I always tried to push myself to my breaking point out of fear of wasting time. This virtual academic year (and the pandemic in general) has taught me to conserve my energy and not to be hard on myself. I’ve discovered the power of power naps and the value of resting my mind and body. I actually get more work done with breaks than I would just trucking through! I also went on a coffee fast a few months ago because I found that drinking an espresso every day was not doing my body any favors, so I pressed the reset button and it’s helped me a lot!
- Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to succeed in college. Before college, I was used to firing on all cylinders all the time but expecting to be at 110% all the time did me a lot of harm. I’m not saying that you should start slacking off when you get to college. I am saying that you should be confident in your ability to succeed in your new setting. And if you find yourself struggling to adjust to college in any way, there are so many resources there for you to help you out. We want to see you win! You’ll be great, I promise.
Those were just a few pieces of advice I have from my limited experience in college so far. I’m sure I’ll learn more lessons throughout my time in college but that’s the amazing part! If you would like any more advice on anything else related to college in general or a more specific question, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected]! See you next time!