Although it’s only been four years since I stepped foot on campus it feels like lifetimes ago. If you are a college freshman you might think I’m just saying this for effect. But, if you are upperclassmen like me you’ll know it to be true. The past four years have been so formative for me that I feel like my freshman year self is a totally different person. In fact, I feel so far removed from her I could see the mistakes I made pretty clearly. Here are a few.
- Don’t carry your high school mentality into college.
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You’re an adult now. You have to act like one. In high school, everything was surrounded by drama and high school politics. But now? It’s easy to avoid trouble if you aren’t looking for it.
- You were the best {insert trait} in high school. You’re not here.
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It’s hard the first time that you realize that someone is better than you at something you cherish. But, don’t take that as a loss. Instead, let it motivate you to get better.
- You’re not too cool for anything.
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Life gets so much better when you aren’t afraid of looking stupid for doing something you love.
- Feel free to experiment. But don’t reinvent yourself.
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You can’t run from who you are.
- It’s better to be alone than be with bad company.
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During my sophomore year, I surrounded myself with people who weren’t worth my time. One of the hardest, but one of the best choices I made was cutting them loose.
- You are here to get a degree. Nothing is more important than that.
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I think a lot of people forget the point of college because of thrills outside of the classroom. I can count how many times I saw people drop out because they partied more than they studied.
- Say yes as much as you can.
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Get your education of course. But, there’s nothing worse than looking back at your college experience and realizing you spent most of your time doing nothing.
You have (hopefully) four years of college. After that, you are off to grad school or the dreaded real world. Enjoy yourself for these short years because you’ll never get them back.