This is my third year at Jacksonville State University and I've more or less gotten the hang of college life. Well, more like my college classes. When I first arrived at JSU I had no idea what I was going to study, so I was majoring in Undecided until my second semester of sophomore year.
That spring semester I switched my major to History, and it's so much easier having something to focus on instead of taking a whole bunch of classes and hoping I like one of them.
Over the years I'd like to say that I picked up on some things to help with my college life, and to keep it at a normal amount of stress instead of drowning in it. It's important that you have some type of tips or guidelines to go off of, so that way you're life doesn't spin out of control when trying to balance classes, homework, tests, projects, and so on. So here are five tips to make your college life easier.
1. Syllabus Week
I have so recently learned that syllabus week really only means freshman and sometimes sophomores, after that you should know the basic rules of the buildings/classrooms and if you have this class on these days you can miss five classes, but if you have another class on another set of days you can have seven miss days.
That does not mean you should just skip class though. Once you have the syllabus in hand you should look and see if the teacher has put a schedule on the back, and most teachers will, immediately write it down somewhere like a planner so you can keep up with what you have to do.
2. Transit Buses
If you're a freshman on campus or just live in the dorms the transit buses are your best friends! Most of the parking lots have silver parking for commuters, and I am a commuter so please don't drive if you live in a dorm, and the dorm parking lots are orange and green, so you can't really drive anywhere anyways.
When you get on campus, or even before that, download the MyJSU Mobile app, and figure out the transit bus schedule. There are different buses that go to different places at different times. Find out which ones you need to take and when, so that way you don't have to walk this hilly campus unless you want to or have to. The buses will make your life so much easier.
3. Make friends.
Once you figure out your schedule, and have the MyJSU Mobile, you can click on the class and check your roaster. Check it and see if you already have friends in the class or if there is just a name you recognize. There is always the chance there is at least one person you know in a class. However, there is an even bigger chance that there will be no one that you know, so it's important to go in and make friends so that way you have someone to converse with and someone who can help you with homework, studying, and projects.
4. Homework
Do your homework as you learn the lesson, especially if it's math. If you do your homework as you learn it, or at least do it little by little, you won't be as stressed out and doing large portions of it right before it's due. Everyone is guilty of procrastination, I'm one of the world's worst, but do your homework as soon as possible so that way it can be turned in faster and you won't have to worry about it. Plus, if you wait to do it, you've most likely already forgotten how to do it.
5. Go to class.
Things will be so much easier if you just go to class and take the notes, or whatever it is you do. Yes, some teachers don't take roll so there is no way of knowing if you skipped or not, but going to the class and learning from a classroom environment is so much easier than learning it by yourself.
If you miss class, you miss vital information for a test, you miss a quiz, and you miss the study guide (speaking from experience). Ask questions and get help from not only your teachers, but your classmates. Someone always knows how to do something you don't.
