Amidst the fun, the stress, the good and the bad, college is also a period of forgetfulness. At the mere age of 20-something, who would have thought you’d have the memory of a grandparent? Maybe it’s the long to-do list or the endless notes to study, but there are just some things all college students forget to remember (or push to the back of your mind at least).
1. Going to bed at a reasonable hour.
Whether you’re staying up until 3 a.m. binge watching Vampire Diaries, studying at Marston Science Library until your brain is fried or going out with friends, we could all use some extra hours in the day. As much as we love our sleep, we collegiettes still forget to get enough z’s. Nights deprived of sleep do add up, and your academic performance will suffer. One minute it’s 8:30 p.m. and the next minute the sun is rising… oops.
2. Calling your family.
I’m not just talking about parents, but grandparents and siblings, too. When was the last time you called your parents just to talk? Not to ask them for money or to vent about school, but to just check up on them and have a conversation? If you’re close in age to your siblings, it may not be an issue to keep in contact, but for others, it’s not easy. We’re so busy we forget there are people in our life missing us, whether they admit it or not. If you take 15 minutes out of your day just twice a week, I promise it’ll be much appreciated.
3. Cleaning your room.
You’re lying if you’re not guilty of this. We all have made the promise to ourselves to keep our room clean and make our beds every morning. You’re not quite sure how it happens, but the tornado always hits and your room becomes a disaster. When you roll out of bed in the morning still half awake and just in time to make it to class, making your bed and straightening up your room is not a top priority. I’ll admit it’s just not as satisfying going to sleep at night in an unmade bed and messy room. Keeping it clean will actually make you feel a lot more organized and less stressed.
4. Doing your laundry.
Sometimes it’s hard to get into the mindset that you’re responsible for doing your own laundry after all those years of mom washing your clothes. You think everything’s fine, but then you go searching your closet for your favorite romper to wear… and it’s at the bottom of your laundry basket. In addition to being forgetful, it doesn’t always help that you may just simply be lazy.
5. Stocking up on food for the week.
It’s Sunday night and you’re already in bed, but then you realize you forgot to restock on food to eat all week. There’s nothing more upsetting than hearing your stomach growl and opening an empty refrigerator. Even worse, sometimes you’re so caught up in studying that, 10 hours later, you completely forgot to eat all day.
6. Bringing a charger anywhere.
If there’s anything I learned in college, it’s to always bring a charger everywhere you go. There’s nothing worse than walking all the way to the library in the scorching heat to realize your phone is dying and your laptop is at 25 percent. If you have ever experienced needing to finish an online quiz by a certain deadline with a dying computer, you have survived catastrophe. Nowadays with classes heavily online, it may be a habit to bring your chargers everywhere with you… or not.
7. Staying in touch with high school friends.
You have so much to do all the time, and now you have new college friends, too. It’s hard to remember to talk to your high school best friends, and it’s not because you don’t want to be friends with them. Sometimes you’re just on different pages, and it completely slips your mind to talk to them every so often. especially if they go to a different school. It’s never too late to send them a quick text. Chances are it’ll be just like old times!
8. Going to office hours.
You always write down their office hours on the first day of class, but never remember to actually go to them. Almost every professor holds office hours you can attend if needed, so take advantage of it. Not only will you get extra help, but your professor will also get to know you personally, which is very useful for recommendation letters later on! Contrary to popular belief, professors actually do want you to succeed and will help you if you’re struggling.
9. Bringing an umbrella to class.
It’s not called Rainesville for nothing. Yes, it could be perfectly sunny when you left your apartment to go to class, but 50 minutes later there’s a very high chance that it’s pouring. After the first time you get stuck in the rain, you’re most likely always going to be checking your phone’s weather app.
10. Managing time.
You would think after all these years in school we would finally learn not to procrastinate, but here we are writing a paper two hours before it’s due. With only a few hours of class every week, we get in the mindset that we have ample time to do everything, but time management is too often overlooked and results in absolute chaos. It’s not easy balancing academics, involvement and a social life. Stress is inevitable. Always remember, you can’t stress over what you can’t control but you can control how you manage your time.
We may be young, but sometimes we can’t help but let the little things slip our minds. As busy as you may be, never forget to sit back and relax every so often, collegiettes!
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