|
|
Click HERE to Open Your College Survival Kit!!Jul 18 '00 Write an essay on this topic.About to head off to college? Nervous about life on your own? Or, are you itching to get out of your house and start making a life for yourself? The truth is, there's a lot more to college than a move away from home (usually) and harder classes. After going through my first year at Penn State University (University Park Campus), I have learned a lot about myself, about life, and about how college can work for you (and against you). There are several ways you can help make your college experience fun, worthwhile, and fulfilling over the time you spend there. Lots of kids fresh out of high school think they know everything and get to college and realize they were sorely mistaken. Sometimes this realization is just in time for change, but most times, it's too late, causing a bad semester, or withdrawal. How To Survive Your 1st Semester: 1) Go To Class: Ok, so this is a given, but, if you're fresh out of high school, where all classes were unquestionably mandatory, college is a vastly different story. Professors don't care if you show up or not, they get paid either way. Not to make them sound heartless, but in high school, you're there because you have to be. In college, it's your choice (and/or your parents'), so the circumstances are vastly different. So, since it is your choice, you can go to class (or not). Believe me, when you have a 9am class that's 15 minutes away and it's </i>cold </i>out and you were up til 2am chatting(studying or partying), it takes a wheelbarrow-full of guts to want to go to class. Trust me, though, you pay for it later... 2) Get ALL Your Books: Another ignoramus hint, but it's true! Books are SO expensive, and when the end of the semester rolls around, if you choose to sell them back, you will get 10% of the original purchase price, if you're lucky. So, it's easy not to buy a book for a class a borrow someone else's. But what happens when an exam is tomorrow and the person you normally borrow from is out of the room and you have no idea where they are? You either fail the exam or hope your notes are good, so get the books you need. I'm not saying get all books, only the required ones, unless otherwise instructed. 3) Don't Procrastinate: This killed my GPA in my first semester last fall. In college, if you wait 'til the last minute, chances are you did it in a couple other classes as well so then you have too much to handle, and something has to suffer to you can at least save some face. I'm still trying to work on this one. I mean, I had a 2.84 in the fall, which isn't bad, but it's way below my personal standards. Get everything out of the way before you have to deal with it. My calculus teacher in high school told us to pretend that a deadline is actually a week sooner than it really is. That way, we freak out and get everything done in plenty of time to relax. Try it, it really works! 4) Make an Effort to Know Your Professors: Easy to do in high school, and a bit of an intimidating prospect in college. Yeah, some professors seem mean and impersonal, but at a school of thousands of students, they know they can't ever possibly know all of their students. Once you show an interest, however, and go to office hours, your name will stand out when the grades come out. It's pure psychology, they can't help it, but they will be more likely to bump you up from a B+ to an A- if they know for a fact that you worked hard, and deserve a little assistance. 5) Eat Well: It's nearly impossible to eat 3 meals a day, especially since breakfast isn't served as late as most students would like. So, in order to counter a lost meal, just eat big lunches and dinners, and maybe take in a midnite meal for a nightcap. This will help fight disease which will hurt your GPA worse than anything else. Also, it keeps you in good shape, which has obvious physical and psychological benefits. 6) Do Everything In Moderation: You knew this was coming, huh? This adheres to school work too, but most obviously to what I will term "extracurricular activities". At Penn State, if you really want a party, you can find one virtually every day of the week. With the temptation there, let your conscience take over. Just because something is available, doesn't mean it's good to always advantage of. Also, this applies to academics. Make sure to take plenty of breaks and enjoy yourself. This will reduce stress and rest your brain. In addition, it will help you strengthen your social ties, a truly big part of college life. 7) Don't Cram for Exams: So easy to do, kinda goes along with tip #3, but if you do that, you end up pulling all-nighters, making you tired, sick, crabby, and far less intelligent than you need to be. What cramming does is throws so much information into your head that cannot possibly be comprehended, so you remember some things, but not enough to help you survive. 8) Sleep: Sleep as much as you can. Napping between classes is Highly Recommended, but only 10-minute power naps. Any more time will result in grogginess. 9) Work Out: Get buff! Usually, gym access fees are very low so take advantage of this feature, especially if you choose to frat-hop (all those extra calories. Also, you look better, feel better, and attract all the hot ladies(or guys...), which leads me to... 10) Relationships: Proceed At Your Own Risk!: There are two types of relationships you can have at college (of they boyfriend-girlfriend nature). You can have either the A)Local or B)Long-Distance. I severely discourage such relationships since they are incredibly difficult to maintain, yes, I know. They distract your work, and add stress to a situation that is hard to remedy. A local relationship is far more feasible, but still, relationships take a lot of attention, like a puppy. Who's going to take care of it? You have to seriously consider if that is something you want to take on. Overall: There's a couple things that I could've added to make this list more complete, but this is a long review as it is... So, as you will soon find out, college is the beginning of a new life. Paying attention to these aspects of it will help you get off on the right foot! Thanks for reading!  |
| Read all comments (2)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
