Now that I've been out of college for 6 days shy of a year, I often catch myself thinking "I should have... could have..." But, I also praise myself for doing a few things right. Here are a few words of advice you'll wish you would have taken to get through the most interesting four (to seven) years of your life.
1. Never underestimate the power of sleep.
All throughout college I had issues with my skin, anxiety, balancing my hormones, and getting sick. I would go to the doctor crying not understanding why I couldn't get my body under control when I was following a very healthy diet and exercising regularly. It didn't occur to me until a few months after graduation that sleep is imperative to health - once I started getting a regular eight hours, my skin cleared up, I stopped having panic attacks, my period became regular, and I rarely get sick.
2. Shoot for realistic, not perfect.
Some classes are just plain difficult, either because the subject matter is or because it doesn't interest you. I would pull consecutive all-nighters to perfect a project or paper for an impossible professor for an impossible class to only settle for a mediocre grade, then go home and beat myself up about it, re-do it, and beg my professor for a better grade. In hindsight, my sleep was more important and although cum laude looks fantastic on a resume, I know I could have done my best, settled for a mediocre grade, and made up for my shortcomings in another course. A "B" ... even a "C" is NOT the end of the world.
3. Use SelfControl app.
Use a mac? Go to http://selfcontrolapp.com/ ... I just saved your life. I didn't know about SelfControl app until my senior year and even so I didn't use it as much as I could have. It locks you out of the internet for certain sites on your "blacklist" for a certain duration of time so you can get work done without distractions like Facebook or Pinterest. The only downside? It doesn't work for phones ... my solution? Use this app in the library and leave your phone at home.
4. Monday night country-night at the campus bar can probably wait.
Now that I'm out of college and actually 21, you have to pay me to go to happy hour ... even if it ends at 7pm. But really, a week-night event is a rare occurrence. In college however, I thought I could somehow mix in working full-time and 18 credit-hours with go-hard Monday nights full of fireball shots and cranberry-soda-vodka-more-vodka-less-cranberry and make up for it in the morning with a Starbucks triple-shot. #No, we go back to #1, get your damn sleep.
5. If someone doesn't do any good for your life, it's okay for them to not be a part of it.
This goes for 'friends' and 'in-significant others.' If a 'friend' is being un-friendly and doesn't support you, who's related interests have changed, has bad-mouthed you, etc. you are in no way entitled to retain that friendship. You should sit back and ask yourself if repairing the friendship is worth it, and remind yourself of the reasons you became friends in the first place and ask yourself if they are still valid. If the friendship is worth it, confront them about the issue and work together to repair your friendship. If it's not, feel NO SHAME in ignoring their phone calls and text messages (whilst still acting like a lady by not gossiping and being civil.) As for "in-significant others"... there is no reason you should spend the "happiest years of your life" dealing with a d-bag.
6. You have like, no bills so you have no excuse for having like, no savings.
Being a woman of college-age attending a university you have what is known as "discretionary income," you have no dependents and little bills. Now, this isn't universally applicable - but if I average out the bills I have now versus my income now in comparison to the money I had in college versus my bills in college, I have less money now to frivolously spend currently than I did then. Where did my money go? Eating out, shopping, bars. My mom told me once that based on my bank statement I had spent $500 in one month on eating out. Now, I did have some savings when I graduated - but, I wish that I had saved more of that money as a "cushion" for my first year in the real world.
7. Make it part of your routine to talk to your parents.
During college you get so wrapped up in class and your social life that you can forget about the people that got you there. Weeks would go by without me talking to my parents. When I graduated I felt like we had lost touch and I was so out of the loop with what was going on in their lives and vice versa. When my dad almost died this past January, it truly made me realize that you never know how long your parents are going to be around. Call your mom, call your dad, make it a priority to have them involved in your college life.
8. Your professors are your best possible networking tool.
I owe my career to Dr. K (and my hard work, but Dr. K for recognizing it.) I developed a close relationship with many of my professors by going beyond just showing up to their class, participating, and doing well. I would periodically stop in during office hours to just talk, whether school-related or not. When it came time to start applying for jobs, an employer contacted my professor and without question he forwarded them my resume and a gleaming recommendation, basically saying they would be a fool not to hire me. I got the call the Monday after I graduated, and started my career two weeks later.
9. Once you know what you want to do, start researching how to make it happen.
Picking a major does not limit you to one career. My degree focus was in merchandising, and when any professor would inquire about our desired career path the typical response was "I want to be a buyer." That was (and still is) my response, but when I first decided that's what I wanted to do I really didn't know what it meant. I started to dig deeper into what a buyer does and quickly realized it was more math than I thought, it's not just analyzing customers and picking out merchandise. So, I really made it an effort to not just complete the work in my math and merchandising business courses but made it a point to really grasp all the concepts and formulas ... and it made for a really seamless transition into my job. Also, the sooner you start researching companies to work for you can focus on getting an internship with that company, planning a move, or even reach out to an employee to mentor you on what steps to take to obtain a post-graduate position.
10. Keep your newsfeed classy.
Maybe your future employers will look at your Facebook / Twitter / Instagram and maybe they won't, but do you really want to take the risk? You never know who's dad owns an advertising firm or who's mother is a business executive looking to hire an extern, and they definitely won't be asking recommendations for promising college graduates chugging a bottle of whiskey in a slutty cat halloween costume. Instead of posting it and saying you'll delete it later, upload the classier photos and skip those all together. Once it's on the internet, it's there forever - never attach your face or name to anything you do not want surfacing five years down the road. With that said (and I wish I could have listened to my own advice) keep your personal drama off your newsfeed. No one cares if your boyfriend - ex-boyfriend - boyfriend - ex-boyfriend - boyfriend again is a jerk, and we definitely do not have sympathy for you if you publicly announce he was texting your best friend's sister. Delete it now, act like it never happened, and take the high road going forward.
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