We’re halfway through the semester and junior year is starting to hit me hard. It’s finally beginning to feel like I’m almost done with college and I just want that feeling and time to stop.
These past two years have flown by and this semester isn’t any different. It feels as if I just got to Purdue and I have my first day of Boiler Gold Rush tomorrow. Unfortunately, instead of heading to Elliot for the BGR Opening Ceremony, I have to start studying for my exam around the corner. If I could go back to freshman year there are a couple of things I would do differently.
1. Try not to do everything
As a freshman trying to figure out what clubs/organizations I wanted to join was extremely difficult. There are so many options and things to do that it can be insanely overwhelming. I wish I had learned to scale back and pick one or two that I was really going to commit to, rather than going to a ton of callouts and joining clubs that I would only go to a couple of meetings for.
2. Study more
I think everyone can attest to this, but there is always more I could do. Looking back at everything and realizing my GPA isn’t where I want it to be, is really eye opening. Just reading the book for a couple minutes or even re-reading my notes could have helped too.
3. Go to Supplemental Instruction Sessions for harder classes
Supplemental Instruction is like a hidden gem. The SI leaders are actually really helpful and I wish I had taken more advantage over these free extra learning opportunities. It’s basically like free tutoring, where you can do extra problems and go over topics covered in class. They’re also really helpful for exam preparation because the problems SI leaders go over are somewhat similar to the ones on exams.
4. Start my homework earlier
I remember many nights where I would be scrambling to get something done. If I had learned how to manage my time better and start homework earlier rather than procrastinate like I always do, I would have been a lot less sleep deprived or at least a lot less stressed. Not to mention the time I would have had to do other things instead of race against time to get my homework turned in.
5. Go to every class
In the winter, finding the motivation to go to class is rough. With the cold weather and snow in the way, staying in my warm room in bed sounded a lot more enticing than going to class across campus. Although the bus helped make the trek over to class a lot more bearable, there were some days I just couldn’t make it to class. I regret not going to class those days because even though I didn’t completely understand what my professor was talking about, I would have been a lot more productive if I got up and went.
There are so many days where I wish I could go back to Freshman year and redo things. But it’s never too late to start changing and doing things differently. This year I hope to keep these five things in mind so that when graduation comes along, I know that I did everything I could and treasure my diploma even more.