Throughout high school, I always heard the same speech about how things are a lot different once you enter college. And for the most part, they were right.
College teaches you a lot about life skills, such as how long can you sleep in before you get up, shower while still making it to class before your professor closes the door, or how much time you have to do the homework for class that's due in the next hour. It also teaches you a lot about other people as well as yourself. But with college comes the stress of finals and cramming for exams, the temptation of parties and the task of balancing it all.
One of the joys of being in college is that there is an infinite amount of freedom. The freedom to go wherever you want, the freedom to do whatever you want and the freedom of not doing anything what-so-ever. Unfortunately, that can be your downfall if you can't handle that kind of responsibility.
My freshman year in college I got to enjoy the parties and the fun of traveling all over the state with my friends. There was even the experience of falling in love and of course the tragic heart break that soon followed. I often found myself over sleeping for class and in most cases just skipping class altogether. It was a lot easier to miss class when they had block parties at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday. That's the thing that they don't warn you of before you get to college. There's literally a party everywhere, all the time. Don't get me wrong, I got things done. They were just usually done whenever I got around to doing them.
The key to being successful in college whether you're in a community college in your hometown or a university out of state is making sure all your ducks are in a row. That's not a metaphor nor is it the go ahead to fill your dorm room with a paddling of ducks. It simply means that you have to be sure everything is in order before you can do anything else. If you know there's a party later that night then you should probably do your homework first. That way you can dance all night and still be prepared for class in the morning. Or if you have that big math final approaching it's best to get some studying done earlier or if you're like me at math, absolutely pathetic, you get the studying done much earlier.
The responsibility of working a job and paying bills is not what makes you an adult. Being an adult is prioritizing what's important and getting them done. You don't have to have your future all figured out, in fact most college students don't. According to Chegg college is about the experiences and learning what you like and don't like, who you want to hang around and who you want to surround yourself with. You'll have plenty of time to find what it is that you want to do with your life while you find your niche. Don't rush through the college experience and don't sleep it all away. You could miss out on the best years of your life and you definitely want to enjoy the ride and all it has to offer.
