How To Get Through College
College is a great place to grow and cultivate your ideas into realistic ambitions. Going to college opens your mind to new environments and builds maturity while surrounding yourself with a massive group of your peers. In essence, college teaches you responsibility by making you the in control of your future. College can be a walk in the park for some people and for others it could be the hassle of your life. Some people do not do well with being on their own, and do not have the tools to enter the real world, or college bubble. This guide will list some of the tools one might need to enter this new experience and leave with the most out of it.
Time Management
Time is of the essence in life. There is always something to be done and a small gate of opportunity to do it. If you do not separate your time into manageable chunks, then you will be lost in it. It will be difficult to cope with the stress and pressures of rotating due dates if you do not manage your time. The easiest way to manage time is to get a calendar and a day planner. Your day planner should become your second cellphone, it should never leave your side and you should wake up right next to it. If you let it fade to the bottom of your pile of books you will indefinitely lose the uphill battle that is college. Do not wait to write anything down, and always have it out in class. The words due date should be on the paper before they are even said out loud. Your calendar will govern your entire semester. It will be your provisional mom and dad. Your calendar tells you when you can and cannot leave the dorm, when you can take some time off and even when you can eat. Listen to your calendar and you will be on the right track.
Schedules and Daily Routine
Being away from home can really mess with your body's manual clock. You start to go to bed later, and then wake up later and slowly your nights become days and days become nights. You must fight this urge. To beat this battle, you need to fall into a regular schedule and never deter from it. Your itinerary should be similar from day to day. Wake up the same time every day, even if you have a later class, and sleep at a reasonable time, preferably before midnight because after then you'll definitely be sluggish in the next day. Dining hall times should be similar, just so your body knows when its going to be fueled.
Your class schedule should be posted somewhere you can see it in your room. As soon as you wake up you should know when you are going to class and when you have to get ready for them. Usually, knowing the fact that you are paying for these classes is enough to get you in front of the professor, but if that's not enough, post the dollar amount somewhere you can see it. College is definitely about getting your moneys worth.
Take Notes and Study, Study, Study!
In high school, you could get away with not studying because lower grades are geared in the direction of gradually building on the classes common knowledge. In college, professors are teaching on whatever pace they want to. The first few days seem to be casual, and you are understanding the topics quite well, but then the class shifts into full gear and you realize that the class is moving on without you. If you do not understand a topic, unless someone is tutoring you, there is no one keeping you updated on what's going on. If you're a person who understands topics well, everything will go well, until exams roll around. No matter how well you can grasp a lesson, exams will cover too much to recall. At this point you will realize that having notes to look over would have been superb. Small tip... take notes that you understand and that will help you, because if you don't you might as well just be looking at a thick textbook and trying to absorb knowledge, hand-to-book contact.
Make Friends In The Right Places
Some people say "You are what you eat", in college, you are who you surround yourself with. College students are a diverse group of people. You will have your A-students and your slackers. You already know what pack you should gravitate to. Having a friend group who also shares the same major or topic of learning as you will make life a thousand times easier. Together you are stronger, because if you put both your brains together when you're doing homework, writing papers, and studying for exams then you'll be twice as successful. Many universities have housings that live with like-majored individuals. If you are not in housing like that create a group in class and teach each other. In the end you'll have a solid group of friends, and you will be sociable and productive at the same time.