Feldschlacht IV
Member
I know a lot of you reading this are just going into college for the first time as freshman, so therefore you're fresh meat and don't really have a clue on what you're doing, even if you think you do. Some of you may even be into your second year at college, and still don't really have the hang of it yet; hey, it happens. Well, I'm going into my 3rd year in college, so I figured I may as well give some advice to first year students, or hell, this could apply to anyone, right? Well, listen up, because I'm going to give you some tips on how not to screw up in college.
ACADEMICS
Academics is the most important part of college, because well, that's what keeps you in college and pretty much why you went. On that end, there are a lot of ways to screw this up.
-First off, do NOT procrastinate! I'll be the first to admit that this is a big folly of mines; waiting until the last minute to do projects will catch up to you and destroy you in the long run. Stuff will come up delaying you, a problem will prove harder than it seems, or something else unforeseen may come up, making your procrastination blow up in your face. Don't do this. Don't do this. Time management is the utmost importance. Get a planner, and write everything down in it. Plan your days ahead of time; know what you're going to do the next day before you go to sleep. You can never get time wasted back, and you really learn this in college.
-Go to fucking class. Seriously. One 'perk' about college is that you can pretty much not go to class and no one will care or even notice. You can miss an entire weeks worth of classes and no one will be the wiser. But you're still paying for the class, and you're still missing the material, so guess what happens when there's an exam you have to go to? You're fucked. Sure, I think everyone can afford to miss a few classes (emphasis on few), don't force yourself if say, you're sick, but don't make a habit out of it. And no, you can rarely afford to study the material on your own, I tried.
-Get buddy buddy with your professors. Seriously! Be on good terms with your profs, so when you need to ask for help, or you need an accommodation or something, or hell, even your grade bumped up from a 89 to a 90, they'll do it for you. Professors are a lot cooler than high school teachers, for a lot of reasons, but take advantage of it. Take advantage of office hours, tutors, whatever you need. The help is most often there, get it while you can. Don't wait until the finals to approach your professors about a poor grade, hell, even if you're outright failing the class, if you're eager to correct it, you most likely can if you catch it early enough.
SOCIAL LIFE
Social life is yes, very important in college. Even if you were a friendless reject in high school, everyone finds some niche in college. You need at least a few people to kick back and chill with. Here's some general advice.
-DO STUFF! Join a club, start working out, go to college events, do something. Don't just hole up in your dorm all of the time. Trust me, it's very easy to meet people if you're around any given environment long enough. The thing about college is that there's all kinds of people out there. No matter what kind of person you are, you're assured to make some friends if you put yourself out there.
-If you live in a dorm, friends will be almost spoon fed to you. Leave your door open sometimes, be inviting. I made a lot of friends by people either poking their head in my room, or me doing the same to them. When you walk down the halls, try and take notice to what kind of neighbors you have, if you see someone that interests you, strike a conversation. Everyone is kinda awkward at first, but if you click, you'll notice. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, you'll rarely get shut down if you're just walking around.
-Here's a good tip, say 'what's up', or 'hey' when you're walking down the halls in your dorm. If you get a good vibe in response, continue the conversation by asking things such as what year they're in, how are their classes, their name, and so on. Go with it, and take the conversation as far as you can. Before you know it, BAM, you've made a new friend. Believe me, I've met a LOT of people doing this. Also, if you're trying to meet members of the opposite sex, this works like a charm. Keep in mind it's all in the execution, don't look retarded while doing this.
HEALTH
If you're sick, you can't do shit. Here's some tips to stay healthy.
-Wash your hands. Seriously, when people get to college I guess they think that gives them liberty to just be funky. College campuses are among the germiest places ever. People are generally disgusting and soon you'll notice that people get sick left and right. One of the biggest reasons for this is that people don't wash their hands after they use the bathroom, or just don't wash period. Please wash yourself. Frequently.
-Work out/exercise. Do this no matter what your fitness goals are. If you're a skinny twig or rather large, this is the perfect time to reverse that, if you're an average weight and size, do this to stay that way (The Freshman 15 is not a myth). Most, if not all colleges have some kind of gym or weight room, or whatever, and it's FREE TO YOU. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS. Male or female, fat or skinny, take advantage of this. Doing some sort of exercise is one of the absolute best things you can do for yourself.
-Eat right. With meal plans and such, a lot of people our age take advantage of this a little too much, and well, they get pretty fat. Watch your portions, don't eat just because it's there, and watch what you eat, eat some fruits and veggies, mommy isn't here to force you this time around. However, if your goal is to get bigger/more muscle like me when I was a freshman, take this advantage to get a whole bunch of food in your belly for free.
SEX LIFE
Everyone likes to run and hide when the 'S Word' is brought up, but let's face it, most people either A. Get their first sexual experiences in college, or B. Get the bulk of their sexual experiences in college. Unfortunately there's a lot of people that just don't know what the fuck they're doing. I'm pretty blunt about this sort of thing too, so be forewarned.
-Use a condom. Seriously, male or female even if you have the slightest intention of having sex, keep some condoms somewhere in your room. We all know the obvious applications and reasons why WE SHOULD USE CONDOMS, KIDS, but if you find yourself in a 'situation' there's really nothing worse than not having any condoms around, anywhere. Either you have to stop the whole thing (which SUCKS), you have to go to the store to buy some before you continue (which also sucks), or you go ahead and have sex anyway (which SUCKS THE WORST DON'T DO THIS). Keep condoms handy, somewhere.
-If you find a significant other in college, I highly recommend that you both get tested. That way, if you two decide to go "fuck condoms they suck" and go for the Pill or something, you don't have to worry about catching anything from each other, or if you two have oral sex (which if you have a significant other for any significant period of time this is going to happen, don't kid yourselves), there are no worries anywhere in the equation.
-If you have a roommate and he/she needs to exit the premises for a while so you can use the room, talk to him/her about it. Trust me, this is a universal okay thing to do that any sensible roommate will understand. Unless you're kicking them out in the cold, waking them up, or uh, intruding on their "time", this is perfectly fine to do. But please do it ahead of time if you can, and be reasonable about it. Don't leave them hanging for like 6 hours or something like that.
Of course there's a lot more but hey, I'll get to it later.
DISCUSS
ACADEMICS
Academics is the most important part of college, because well, that's what keeps you in college and pretty much why you went. On that end, there are a lot of ways to screw this up.
-First off, do NOT procrastinate! I'll be the first to admit that this is a big folly of mines; waiting until the last minute to do projects will catch up to you and destroy you in the long run. Stuff will come up delaying you, a problem will prove harder than it seems, or something else unforeseen may come up, making your procrastination blow up in your face. Don't do this. Don't do this. Time management is the utmost importance. Get a planner, and write everything down in it. Plan your days ahead of time; know what you're going to do the next day before you go to sleep. You can never get time wasted back, and you really learn this in college.
-Go to fucking class. Seriously. One 'perk' about college is that you can pretty much not go to class and no one will care or even notice. You can miss an entire weeks worth of classes and no one will be the wiser. But you're still paying for the class, and you're still missing the material, so guess what happens when there's an exam you have to go to? You're fucked. Sure, I think everyone can afford to miss a few classes (emphasis on few), don't force yourself if say, you're sick, but don't make a habit out of it. And no, you can rarely afford to study the material on your own, I tried.
-Get buddy buddy with your professors. Seriously! Be on good terms with your profs, so when you need to ask for help, or you need an accommodation or something, or hell, even your grade bumped up from a 89 to a 90, they'll do it for you. Professors are a lot cooler than high school teachers, for a lot of reasons, but take advantage of it. Take advantage of office hours, tutors, whatever you need. The help is most often there, get it while you can. Don't wait until the finals to approach your professors about a poor grade, hell, even if you're outright failing the class, if you're eager to correct it, you most likely can if you catch it early enough.
SOCIAL LIFE
Social life is yes, very important in college. Even if you were a friendless reject in high school, everyone finds some niche in college. You need at least a few people to kick back and chill with. Here's some general advice.
-DO STUFF! Join a club, start working out, go to college events, do something. Don't just hole up in your dorm all of the time. Trust me, it's very easy to meet people if you're around any given environment long enough. The thing about college is that there's all kinds of people out there. No matter what kind of person you are, you're assured to make some friends if you put yourself out there.
-If you live in a dorm, friends will be almost spoon fed to you. Leave your door open sometimes, be inviting. I made a lot of friends by people either poking their head in my room, or me doing the same to them. When you walk down the halls, try and take notice to what kind of neighbors you have, if you see someone that interests you, strike a conversation. Everyone is kinda awkward at first, but if you click, you'll notice. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, you'll rarely get shut down if you're just walking around.
-Here's a good tip, say 'what's up', or 'hey' when you're walking down the halls in your dorm. If you get a good vibe in response, continue the conversation by asking things such as what year they're in, how are their classes, their name, and so on. Go with it, and take the conversation as far as you can. Before you know it, BAM, you've made a new friend. Believe me, I've met a LOT of people doing this. Also, if you're trying to meet members of the opposite sex, this works like a charm. Keep in mind it's all in the execution, don't look retarded while doing this.
HEALTH
If you're sick, you can't do shit. Here's some tips to stay healthy.
-Wash your hands. Seriously, when people get to college I guess they think that gives them liberty to just be funky. College campuses are among the germiest places ever. People are generally disgusting and soon you'll notice that people get sick left and right. One of the biggest reasons for this is that people don't wash their hands after they use the bathroom, or just don't wash period. Please wash yourself. Frequently.
-Work out/exercise. Do this no matter what your fitness goals are. If you're a skinny twig or rather large, this is the perfect time to reverse that, if you're an average weight and size, do this to stay that way (The Freshman 15 is not a myth). Most, if not all colleges have some kind of gym or weight room, or whatever, and it's FREE TO YOU. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS. Male or female, fat or skinny, take advantage of this. Doing some sort of exercise is one of the absolute best things you can do for yourself.
-Eat right. With meal plans and such, a lot of people our age take advantage of this a little too much, and well, they get pretty fat. Watch your portions, don't eat just because it's there, and watch what you eat, eat some fruits and veggies, mommy isn't here to force you this time around. However, if your goal is to get bigger/more muscle like me when I was a freshman, take this advantage to get a whole bunch of food in your belly for free.
SEX LIFE
Everyone likes to run and hide when the 'S Word' is brought up, but let's face it, most people either A. Get their first sexual experiences in college, or B. Get the bulk of their sexual experiences in college. Unfortunately there's a lot of people that just don't know what the fuck they're doing. I'm pretty blunt about this sort of thing too, so be forewarned.
-Use a condom. Seriously, male or female even if you have the slightest intention of having sex, keep some condoms somewhere in your room. We all know the obvious applications and reasons why WE SHOULD USE CONDOMS, KIDS, but if you find yourself in a 'situation' there's really nothing worse than not having any condoms around, anywhere. Either you have to stop the whole thing (which SUCKS), you have to go to the store to buy some before you continue (which also sucks), or you go ahead and have sex anyway (which SUCKS THE WORST DON'T DO THIS). Keep condoms handy, somewhere.
-If you find a significant other in college, I highly recommend that you both get tested. That way, if you two decide to go "fuck condoms they suck" and go for the Pill or something, you don't have to worry about catching anything from each other, or if you two have oral sex (which if you have a significant other for any significant period of time this is going to happen, don't kid yourselves), there are no worries anywhere in the equation.
-If you have a roommate and he/she needs to exit the premises for a while so you can use the room, talk to him/her about it. Trust me, this is a universal okay thing to do that any sensible roommate will understand. Unless you're kicking them out in the cold, waking them up, or uh, intruding on their "time", this is perfectly fine to do. But please do it ahead of time if you can, and be reasonable about it. Don't leave them hanging for like 6 hours or something like that.
Of course there's a lot more but hey, I'll get to it later.
DISCUSS