There are times in everyone's life where they think to themselves I wish I knew what I knew now when I was younger. Now that I have graduated college I've looked back on my experience and would like to share a top five list of dos and don'ts of what to do in college.
1. Request international roommates
Some people like their space and that is ok. However, other people like to be social and meet new people with different perspectives. I was fortunate enough to have international roommates during my years at USF. The experience taught me a lot about the world around me and also a lot about myself as well. For anyone moving into an apartment or dorm, ask the people in charge of roommate matching to match you up with international roommates you won't be disappointed.
2. When moving into an apartment, less is more
It's all fun and games until you are knee deep in a pile of clothes. I learned this the hard way when my already small apartment began to shrink as I filled it with clothes, plastic drawers, posters, a mini fridge and various other things. I also bought all of my cleaning supplies and toiletries in bulk. While this saved money it also meant less space.
My recommendation is, treat moving into an apartment or dorm-like living on a tropical island and bring only the essentials with you. Two weeks worth of clothes a pair of swim trunks and maybe two pairs of jammies. In addition to this, you should also have at least two formal outfits to wear for interviews and formal events (until senior year I only had one).
3. Learn to depend on yourself more
This is perhaps the hardest lesson one can learn in college and adult life. When I lived in Miami I had friends that lived relatively close by. As a result, I could call anyone on the phone on any given weekend and they'd be able to hang out with me. Once I moved to Tampa I became depressed as I had few friends up there and when I would call people on my old contacts list they would text me that they were working or sometimes fail to respond at all. I grew more and more depressed until one day I looked myself in the mirror and thought, 'ok, at this point you have two options.
You can feel sorry for yourself and continue to depend on others to make you happy, or you can try and find happiness within yourself.
Eventually, I found that inner happiness through meditation. As far as awkwardness is concerned when meeting and making new friends, my advice is that it's always awkward. But just because situations are awkward doesn't necessarily mean they aren't beneficial. A famous basketball player said you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
4. Don't Be afraid to ask for help when you need it
Being self-sufficient is great but don't be too prideful to ask for help when you are struggling. Had I done that, I probably wouldn't have had to retake as many classes as I did. Remeber, part of being a student is having the opportunity to be able to talk with multiple people to find out what the best options and strategies are to ensure your success. Not just academically, but in the real world. The sooner and more often you take advantage of it the easier it will be.
5. Be prepared to make mistakes
So many people approach college with the notion that they aren't allowed to fail. This notion is sadly a bunch of BS. While certain factors make failing inconvenient such as, having to stay in school for an extra semester or the possibility of losing financial aid, the fact is, things happen. You could study and fail because you didn't understand the material as well as you thought, or you could not study and fail because you refused to review any information. In any event, failure is not the end of the world. I bought a poster at the USF poster sale, "The Dalai Lama's Instructions for life.
One of the instructions reads, "When you lose, don't lose the lesson." If there is any good that comes out of failure it's that it serves as a reminder of what it is we are really fighting for. Once you paint a clear picture of that in your mind, you can formulate strategies on how to achieve your goal with fall involve the 3rd and fourth items on the list.