After a year of being a senior, there are a bunch of things I have learned and wish I knew before becoming one. Though I probably have no real regrets about not knowing any of these things, they're options and things that are helpful to know nonetheless for all of you underclassmen! You may think you've wasted the first three years of college, but think again. Senior year is your friend.
1. It's never too late to intern.
I used to think that if I didn't get any internships/research opportunities from freshman/sophomore year summer, I wouldn't be able to my junior or senior year. A couple of my friends who went to schools in the city interned most summers since freshman year, and would be graduating with at least two on their resume. While there's going to be a lot of hustling involved, I'm proud to say that you can still have that many internships and be ready for the workforce even if you haven't had any by the end of your Junior year. All it takes is interning during the fall and spring semesters! It's a little more stressful, and you have less time to learn at a pace you'd like, but it's experience all the same.
2. It's your LAST year to do things for free (ish).
If you have plenty of free time, start going for every single thing your college has to offer. Be it sponsored rides to basketball games of teams that suck (you can always support the other team, duh!), school concerts, plays, formals, the zoo and talks! Believe it or not, just because some of these things aren't frequented by that many people, it doesn't mean that these events aren't worth going. This will be your absolute last chance to attend all of these things at a ridiculously discounted price while being ferried to and fro your dorm. Your college loves you, don't realize it too late.
3. Start properly spending time with your professors.
It's slightly difficult to do as a freshman or a sophomore, but it's plenty easy to do as a senior. Professors are a wealth of knowledge and good to keep in touch with. Not just for recommendations, or for the sake of networking, but they're people who have probably watched you grow from the awkward freshman or freshman who thought he/she was the shit, to whatever you have become the moment you step on that graduation stage. There's nothing like being able to go back to see them after years and know that these people knew where you came from, what you've become and where you're going and have had your back even from way back when. You may have made the journey, but they showed you the way.
4. Think about all the ways you can give back to your school.
People can talk smack about their college without really thinking too much about it, but now that you're going to be a senior, it's time to start really thinking about it. Like many students, I myself have been guilty of thinking that my school was lesser that what it is. But in retrospect, not only was that really arrogant of me, I realize now that I should have been thinking about what I could be doing for my school instead. Be it doing well by representing the school academically or through a sport, contributing to school by being an active member in any decision making, or walking around with utmost pride that you come from the school you come from. All it takes is a little school pride from everyone to bring what might have been a "small college 40 minutes outside Philadelphia" to greater heights.
5. There's still time to make new friends.
If you thought the group you had in freshman or sophomore year was the group you'd stay with forever, you're not entirely wrong! It works that way for some people, other times it doesn't. You're never too old to make new friends, even if you go to the tiniest college in the state. There's always someone you don't know, and even if you think you know everyone, people always change. You change. If you had a shitty roommate your freshman year, a few years of separation and growing up on both ends are ingredients to a new found friendship. You could join and frat or a sorority, and still get the best of it for that one year. Who knows? It could be the highlight of your entire college career.
6. Best time to start a club is when you're a senior.
While you have to be the pioneer and recruit everyone, it's so much easier when you already know how the school works. Even if it's "only for a year," a year is a lot longer than people think. That's still MONTHS of stressing out. One way to think about it is: if it's longer than your average internship duration, it's long enough. As a senior, professors are more trusting of you because you already know what you're doing (or know how to act like you do), and underclassmen can depend on you to guide them. What better way to leave a legacy? So get your school a chapter from that international business fraternity, or a chapter at an online publication!
7. You're in the position to be a mentor to someone else.
With the wealth of information of what not to do and what you should do, it's time to pass along your priceless advice to those who know no better. Talk to them about the things they should be thinking about, tell them about all the ways your school can be great, and how they are what it takes to make it there. I can't count the number of times I wish someone told me not to wait to start something, or wish I had someone to bring me to events that I was too scared to go to myself when I was a freshman. Even if you don't get the same experience, all these lessons you learn after college will mean nothing if you don't share them with someone else. Always pay-it-forward!
It's never going to be too late, and what looks like most endings are prologues to beautiful beginnings.