Semester Survival (Part 1)

I'm alive!

And a junior in college!

Gross!

A short list of my responsibilities this semester include classes (of course), a part-time job, a work study job, and presidency of a radio club. Less formal responsibilities include joining journalism club as part of a deal with a friend, figuring out when and how and where I'm going to study abroad, and figuring out a possible relationship.

This past week has been a whirlwind of appointment after errand after appointment. I spent all of my counseling hour venting about how busy I was, and that was at the beginning of the week.

For any freshmen reading this and stressing about the future of their college careers, you might not have to worry as much. I'm overly ambitious (see: a certificate and two minors), and it's the beginning of semester rush. I can already see that my schedule will lighten up soon. However, I'll always be busy.

Tack a short attention span and mental illness on and that's a spiral waiting to happen. So this blog post is going to compile some tips and thoughts that I wish I'd had two years ago.

General stuff you've probably heard before:

• Use your planner. No, you will not remember a sticky note in your textbook, no matter how much you think that you will. If you make a habit of using your planner, it will become easier with time. And if your professor has a calendar, write everything down in pencil as soon as you can. Why pencil? Because if there's a snow day, pen will be your biggest regret in life.
• Google Calendar will save your life. Tell advisers and professors to invite you to their meetings on it. Put everything in there, including your class schedule, and keep it in a widget on your phone screen. It'll keep you from overbooking or double booking yourself.
• Go to your professors' office hours. They don't bite, and students who are more communicative with their professors will get a higher grade in the course. Not only that, but it'll get you a better relationship with your professors. You'll need references eventually, and you won't want to scramble to find the one professor you had a good relationship with.
• Go to your classes. Yeah, this one seems obvious, but don't skip even the 8am. Professors have a set schedule that you'll have to miss. Obviously if you're sick, don't make yourself miserable, but don't be that person who skips constantly and then gets shocked when they fail.
• Take advantage of your resources. Counseling services, financial literacy, career counseling, accommodation offices, co-ops, health centers, everything. You can almost always find these things at a lower rate in college than everywhere else, and you're already paying for a lot of it. Your dollars go into their budgets. 

And as a side note, let me share something my club's adviser says constantly: "I work for you." Yeah. Professors are the ones getting paid by the students. So if something isn't working out, communicate and make it work!

I just said this too, but co-ops. Some universities will have co-ops open to the school community. These are basically thrift stores, sometimes cashless, that provide resources like food and clothing and books. Our university's co-op also has kitchen utilities like blenders and pans to rent. I've found some really good ingredients there, and bomb as hell clothes.

Anyway, I asked my friends the question "What do you wish someone had told you as a freshman?" Here's some answers:

• Say yes, but only if you can. Meaning, it's okay to say no if you can't take up a responsibility! It's better to whole-ass one or two things than half-ass a ton of them.
• Don't drink out of cups without covers. That goes for any party, regardless of how close of an eye you've had on that cup. It also goes for any sex and gender.
• Living off-campus is cheaper, and the food is better. 
• Take fewer classes, and switch advisors if you get a weird feeling about them.
• You're gonna fuck up, accept it and pick yourself up and move on.
• Not everyone has to like you. Don't change just to make someone happy.
• "Swallow your pride, acknowledge that you're a dumb bitch, and ask for help if you need it. Then, things might get done."
  

So, yeah. On to my second week of classes. We got this, I promise!

Until next time!