If you are the tiny tot just out of school, and gearing up to be the adult entering college, here are a few tips and tricks that should help you survive the most grueling of study years, as well as enjoy to the core the most fun-filled years of your life.
Self Awareness
Know what you stand for, what is right and wrong to you, and where to set the limits, before you enter the gates of higher education. If you are not clear on them most of you will end up in a mesh that will entangle and suffocate you, which may ruin your future. It helps to know what you are good at and your weaknesses. Try to win over your negativity with your strengths. Discuss with family and close friends before you go ahead. And be firm.
Active Life
This is the time of your life. Go out and enjoy. Be an active participant in all events, join the various activity clubs and societies, be involved in extracurricular. You will never have the wide range of choices and scope as you will now have. You can learn a skill or master an art. You will realize many hidden traits in you which will only help mold a better future. So go and explore yourself through such cultural, recreational, sports activities and events.
Perseverance and Dedication
College does not mean you can give up on studying and hard work. The School was past life which enabled you admission into a good college. But the latter will sculpt your future years. Give up on a commitment to education and you will lose it all. Being studious does not equate to not enjoying your college years or being only in the company of books. Learn to balance between academics, career goals, entertainment, relationships, etc, and you will derive the maximum output.
Distance from Negativity
Avoid people – seniors, batch mates, and others, who can have a negative influence on you. Try to stay away from peer pressure. Do not give in to temptation and wrong advice though it may seem luscious and unavoidable.
Seeing the Goal
Try to vision your life. Try to decide what is it that you would want to do in life, what is your motive and ambition. It may not be accurate at this time or stage, but at least try forming a blueprint of it that can be further worked upon later on. Gauge your capabilities, strengths, and aptitude. Decide what is your priority in life and what is it that you want the most. The goal will then seem nearer and clearer.
Coping with Situations
It is not easy to cope with the new environment, especially if you are staying away from family. There will be emotional turmoil during the initial stage. Adjusting to everything new will take time. The world now is no more a nutshell and you will be in a situation where every decision will have to be taken by you, and you will have to accept the consequences – good or bad. But do not give way to despair or lose hope. Everyone goes through this stage in life, some adopt the changing situations faster while some take longer. It is just a phase that shall pass. Remember this and keep going on, and motivate yourself with positive thoughts.
Depending on Support Systems
To cope and adjust, you should never let go of your support systems. Talk regularly and keep them informed of all happenings. Your support system can be parents, siblings, friends, a teacher, or anyone. Just hang on to them so you can sustain the difficult phase. You will soon mature.
Learning with Knowledge
In school, you have to study all subjects irrespective of your likes and dislikes. But in college, you have chosen the field of study. So do not make it just a mugging up session where you study only to score high. Knowledge s more important to gain than the degree. You may not know it now, but later on in life when you have a career, you will realize this. So take in knowledge and keep the scores aside. They matter as long as you get the degree.
Out of Seclusion
Come out of the shell that you have woven around yourself. This is the time you need to mix up with others around you, make friends and associates. Be an extrovert. If you are shy and dissociate from the rest, you will be at a loss. This is the stage where you will have to learn how to make acquaintances with strangers. Till now your friends were your neighbors or family friends, now it is a much-varied choice with people from different regions, religions, and with differences in background.
Speak up
Let nothing go beyond limits. If a situation, issue, or problem gets difficult, speak up against it to someone whom you trust or someone who can help you out. Being shy and mum will bear down heavily on you. Nothing is worth suffering silently. Get help – from teachers, administration, family, or counselors.
Apart from these, always remember to be in close association with your professors. They can impart more than what is in the books and can help in career decisions and other issues of concern. Fight stress and loneliness. And try to adjust to change. Enough sleep and rest, physical activity, and healthy food can aid in this miraculously. Also in maintaining your former self so your parents won’t be shocked to see a skinny you when you go home for vacations. And work with classmates; it can correct your mistakes and make you a better people manager.
