So, college is the place where you're supposed to learn all of these amazing life skills.
Here are the top seven skills I have learned thus far.
How to take stairs.
College campuses have stairs literally everywhere. Even outside sidewalks have stairs! Going up each and every stair step can be exasperatingly tedious. In my personal opinion, the best way to conquer any step-laden campus is by taking them two at a time. I promise, it saves the patience you will need to last that three hour lab.
Caffeine is your friend.
man making a coffee lattePhoto by Jennifer Bedoya on UnsplashLike one kid in my biology class said, “I went from never having a cup of coffee in my life to having one everyday.” No matter how you take your caffeine: Coffee, soda or an energy drink, when you've had one of those extremely late nights, caffeine is a must! It's the only way to make it to the next gap in your day when you can finally take a nap.
How to study.
Photo by Unseen Studio on UnsplashI had to include this one because most college freshmen finally cultivate study skills during their first year in college. More or less, fortunately, I had developed some prior to arriving at college due to my insanely hard high school courses. But this is a truly important survival skill, which is first after scouting out free food.
Finding free food.
This is a survival skill at the most basic level — never pass up the opportunity for free food. There is nothing like the instant regret minutes after passing up a meal for which you didn't have to fix or pay. A few good places to check are: Club meetings, those weird campus events named after obscure holidays and over-zealous outside organizations that are in desperate need of college student involvement.
How to take a nap anywhere.
Photo by Sinitta Leunen on UnsplashI should probably have more dignity than this, but college has taught me how to sleep literally anywhere. I mean, after all, why do you think the student centers and lounges sport comfy couches and lounge chairs? And even if they aren’t all that comfy, we're college students and can’t be too choosy. If your room is halfway across campus and you only have 30 minutes before your next class, curling up in that green lounge chair is just as good as crawling in your bed.
How to appreciate sleep.
Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on UnsplashDo you remember that crazy period in your life when you coiled at the mention of taking a nap or going to bed. Your motto for life was, “Kinda work hard, and play really hard.” Well, you are about to regret every nap you ever gave up in your life. Your motto is about to become, “Work hard, play hard and cry over missed sleep.” Sleep is a precious commodity in college, but there just isn’t enough of it. Whoever learns to bottle up a nap and sell it will be rolling in the dough.
How to procrastinate productively.
Procrastination is something you did in high school because you were too busy attending ten different clubs and creating a killer resume for college. At college, procrastination happens because looking at that chemistry homework is just too sad and painful. So instead we become masters at productive procrastination. Doing other, easier homework, taking an extra nap, running to the gym, checking the dining hall for more pizza and calculating your current grade in a class are perfect ways to distract your mind from the sad reality of school without feeling completely guilty.
This was not an exhaustive list at all, but just a small insight into the many skills for which my college tuition has already paid. Many thanks to my parents who allowed me to learn these valuable life lessons; college really was worth the tuition money.
