What advice would you give?

[sdshorty]

Whether you've already graduated from college, still attending or planning to attend, what advice would you give others who are new to college or planning to go?

[sdshorty]

My advice would be geared towards young people going through college on campus. Get involved! Do something with yourself besides going to class and your part-time job. Get involved in extra curricular activities. Sports, clubs, organizations, etc. To me, college would not have been the same if I hadn't done all that. Although I do advise to take it easy because it is possible to get a little more involved in extra curricular and neglect your studies (ahem...reason it took me 5 years instead of 4, LOL). But I know for myself, college was the absolute BEST time of my life. I loved it all, all the experiences, all the friends, I really had the whole college experience and I would recommend it to anyone. It allowed me to really enjoy my youth and have fun and get a good education and make connections and all that great stuff.

[Callie]

I agree with getting involved. I would say take it one step at a time. Everyone gets in a bind and panics. It is normal. You can do it.

[harrisonsdream]

get involved, don't be afraid to ask for help and talk to ppl in your classes. go in, sit down next to someone and be like hi my name is....! be positive. introduce yourself to your professors that always helps (sucking up is not a bad thing). go to class!!!!!! study!!!! lol know that it is okay to not be great at something, go easy on yourself but not to easy. know that it is okay to drop a class if you are having a lot of probs with it but you have tried to get help and you just don't get it still. know that everyone is/has gone through the same thing at some point. know your limits. try new things, new classes, new restaurants. college is the time when you can dye your hair bright green and ppl may look at you weird but guess what it is the only time when you can do it. know that as hard as it seems there are ALWAYS ppl there to help you.

can you tell that i am still in college

[galxy8]

For every course, make friends and form study groups. I would always go into my courses the first week, sit by random people and usually by the end of the first week, get a study group going. It helped me sooooo much when I took all my Math courses, my Engineering courses, and especially Chemistry. LOL!

When you've got more than one brain working on problems, it makes it so much easier. Usually one person will be good at one type of problem and another will be good at another. And by being able to tell someone how the concepts work, you learn it that much faster.

What also helps, is reading ahead. I'm talking at least a week ahead, so that way when you go to lecture, you actually know what the hell the professor is talking about. I usually would try to get a week ahead before classes even started. Sounds insane, but having that week leeway, helped with the stress factor when midterms came. (Because even though you've got midterms, doesn't mean that the reading assigned slows up.)

I also took one sheet of paper and wrote all the reading I had to do for the whole term. I also organized them by weeks, too. And to make it not so drab, I used different colors for each course. One of my friends did this in my sorority and I was like, "What is that?" She's like, "It's my reading assignments for the whole term." Ok, it had to work for her, because this girl was always taking 21 credits and was on the dean's list!!! Then, as the term would go on, I'd put a line through the chapters I'd covered. (Makes you feel like you've accomplished something. LOL!) But it also was helpful when it came to studying for midterms and finals, because the list of materials to study was all right there. Anyways, everyone covered the getting involved part, so I won't delve into that. LOL! HTH.

[Shaky]

Don't give up. If you can go to school now, take advantage of that HUGE opportunity. I regret soooo much not finishing College before I moved. Never is too late though

[Lauren]

I agree with Renee, get involved. Even stuff that you're only slightly interested can end up being great for you.

Discover your passion. College is the time to find something that you love and really develop that. For me it was music. I'd always played music, but I had no intention of pursuing anything more than just being in orchestra. I ended up making it my 2nd major, joining several performing groups, and learning about music therapy.

Have fun crazy times w/ your friends that don't involve alcohol. Some of our best memories are of crazy things we did sober... like driving around trying to find Martha Stuart's house, dancing around in red lipstick, dressing each other up as Christmas trees. We did a lot of stupid fun stuff.

If a guy tell you it when he's drunk, he probably doesn't mean it.

Keep in touch w/ the friends you care about from home. I'm still closer than ever to most of my friends from h.s. and that doesn't happen to most people. If you really care, put the effort in to stay in touch.

You're there to learn too. Take a class you're interested in for an elective. The class I worked the hardest in was an elective about the history of the Arab Israeli Conflict. It was a sr history major seminar and I had to get special permission to take it. I worked my ass off and learned sooo much.

Don't take 23 credits in a semester. Just trust me on that one. There IS a such thing as too much.

Have fun, the 4 years fly by so quickly!

[April]

My advice is to get a job in the field you want to be working in after graduation. Do not just work at the mall. Even if it means a pay cut or even volunteer work. You will need to get your foot in the door somewhere. You will then have work related experience and someone to write letters of recommendation for you.

Take the amount of credits that is right for you. Don't overload, but if you know you could handle more...take them! My freshman year I should have taken more credit hours..now I'm forced to take 18 credit ours for the next 3 semesters to be able to graduate on time!

Originally Posted by April My advice is to get a job in the field you want to be working in after graduation. Do not just work at the mall. Even if it means a pay cut or even volunteer work. You will need to get your foot in the door somewhere. You will then have work related experience and someone to write letters of recommendation for you.

Great advice!! I know being a summer camp councelor isn't quite teaching, but the experience that I have gained there has helped tremendously!!