If I were able to go back in time to college age me, I would have a great discussion about what I was doing well and some things that I would tell myself to change. I thought about this because right now, we are in the midst of back to school time at work. Tons of angry people upset because the store is out of some school supplies as the schools around Minnesota are starting their school year. Who waits until the weekend before school starts to get their kids' school supplies is all I want to ask. Young adults, and sometimes their parents, are coming into the store a little less stressed because they aren't all getting crayons and glue, they are buying furniture and lamps. Throughout the past month, I have seen people with carts full of stuff that I know that they don't really need. Now, granted, they could use them, I have no idea. Personally, I know I would not use them. It got me thinking on some other things that I did or didn't do in college that know I kind of wish I did or didn't do.
Stay in the freshman dorms! When I was signing up for college, I listed my top three or four dorms I wanted to stay in. Now, being eighteen, all I could think was 'I want to be with the upperclassmen, fuck those other freshmen.' And what happened? I got into the upperclassman dorm. Was it better? Yeah, because the rooms were a little bit bigger. I only had two roommates. But that's about it. I didn't care for either of my roommates. One was a staunch Republican and reminded me of David Spade from PCU. But here's the thing, other people in the dorm weren't in the same boat as I was. Most of them were not freshmen. They were more interested in school as opposed to how to deal with not living at home for the first time ever. The only people that I talk to still are people I met in my wife's freshman dorm. Adult me looks back at the one year I spent in the dorms and thinks I should have stayed in the freshman dorms because everyone is in the same boat. It is something to bond over. Everyone is scared. Everyone is taking the same classes. Everyone wants to make a good impression.
Take it easy freshman year! I did really well my first semester of my freshman year. After floundering with math and science in high school (seriously, I passed my junior year math class with a D-), I should have known to wait a few years to take some math and science classes in college. The last thing I wanted to do was fail out of college. However, I was a stupid eighteen year old and listened to my academic adviser and took both a math and two science classes during the second semester of my freshman year. Now, I did all right in my math class, but struggled in one of my two science classes. I wanted to get all of my general education classes out of the way as soon as possible. Horrible idea. Horrible! I should have spread them out over the course of two years. I did okay in one of my science classes, but bombed in the other one. Again, I struggled to just pass the class. It made me not want to go back. And I started to skip class. Horrible slippery slope there. What I should have done is drop the class during the first two weeks in which it was okay to do so. But I didn't, because I was an idiot. Want my advise? Take one required class a year. Spread it out over the course of several years. No one cares if you are a twenty year old taking a low level math class. No matter what your academic adviser says about getting those classes done at the beginning of your college career.
Take the classes you want to, not the classes you are told to! Other than the general education requirements, I look back at some of the classes I took and thought, what the fuck?! Other than the college classes I took for my degree (history and museum studies), the best classes I took were the ones I really really wanted to. I knew that they wouldn't go towards earning my degree, but I took two creative writing classes. I wanted to take them. And I loved it. They were a great break from all my history classes I was taking. If someone tells you about a class you 'should' take, chances are you don't need to take it. Make your class schedule about you. Among all your classes you need to take, remember that college is also about having fun and you can do so in the classroom.
Do stuff on campus! I know that the big thing to do at college, other than go to parties, is to attend sporting events. Yes, yes, I know there are other things going on on college campuses other than sports, but this is what I am going to focus on. In my four years of attending college, I went to maybe four games. Maybe. I think that this reverts back to not living with people my own age. Again, people in my dorm were more interested in their studies and not always going to a football game on Saturday afternoon. Plus, the football team was horrible. Like, win a game or two a year horrible. Part of going to a game is going for the atmosphere, but the other part is to go and watch your team win a game. There are other sporting events to go to, but we are a football centric society, so that's the main thing to see. Not into sports? Get involved in a political activist group. Join a frat or sorority if you want to pay for validation. Do something. Sitting in your dorm or apartment all weekend isn't the best way to spend your college years. Now, if you're an introvert or have social anxiety, you will have a problem with this. So don't fret if you don't get involved in anything. It's not for everyone.
High school and college are suppose to be some of the best years of your life. Personally, the three to four years after college were the best for me. I met amazing people after college. Most of my friends I have now are from post college life. I worked the best job I have ever after the two summers after college. Don't think that the fun life and times end once you graduate from college, it actually is just beginning.
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