5 Things To Do While You're In College To Land On Your Feet When You Graduate
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Health and Wellness

5 Things To Do While You're In College To Land On Your Feet When You Graduate

You're not an adult until you...

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5 Things To Do While You're In College To Land On Your Feet When You Graduate
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College is the best four years of your life. They are also the four most trying years of your life. Never before has it been such a monumental task to balance your time, strengthen your grades, and meet deadlines all the while juggling your home life with your extracurricular life. It almost seems like rocket science to find the ultimate way to minimize your stress while in college. Frankly, there is no single way to minimize your stress, but there are are a few tricks to it.

These are some of the mini-milestones you should accomplish in college that will make you a full-fledged adult before you graduate:

1. You voice your concerns/address the problem.

Nothing is ever perfect. You will never live with the perfect roommate, date the perfect someone, or live in the perfect house or apartment. That being said, things will go wrong at times. Your roommate may never clean up after themselves around the house, your significant other may never give you time to yourself or your friends, and your water might turn off unexpectedly. If anything like this happens and it is directly affecting you, say something! If you keep your grievances bottled up inside of you, the problem will never get solved and will only worsen through a snowball effect. If there is something bothering you, do something about it, and encourage others to look out for your needs. You are a human being and you deserve to be treated with respect, dignity, and appreciation. If you aren't receiving any of those three, do something about it.

2. You get a job.

By a job, I mean in which you regularly dedicate time and do something for a supervisor. Mowing someone's lawn isn't a job and neither is babysitting your neighbor's daughter for a night. A job is something that allows you to grow and develop as an individual and as a professional while earning a regular paycheck. It can be simple as typing information into a computer, or in my case, making pizzas. As you learn to have a strong work ethic through punctuality, attention to detail, respect, and accountability, you will develop as a working professional and take on more demanding jobs with higher pay. Remember that there are three main types of jobs: wage, salary, and freelance. One is all about a number of hours, the others are all about the amount of work you put into the job.

3. You budget time and money.

Personal management is all part of becoming an adult. You might think there is only so much time to accomplish everything on your plate, but that becomes a myth when you invest in a personal agenda. This can be a notebook, a calendar, a daily planner, or even on your phone. Soon you will learn how to plan in advance, avoid any schedule conflicts, and block out your time for certain activities. After you learn to budget your time, you need to learn how to budget your money. Everything you do in life costs money, and it costs, even more, money if you're irresponsible. Example: car insurance. Paying car insurance is already a chore and takes quite a toll on your bank account, but you'll be paying even more if you don't obey traffic laws or be a courteous driver. Another example: rent. Rent is not cheap, and you might pay utilities on top of that depending on where you live. If you rent out an apartment and you mistreat it, you will be paying more than rent and utilities by the time you move out. Even the smallest decisions can determine how much money you spend or save. This is why it is crucial to keep records of every transaction you make, be it taxes or sales, deposits or withdrawals. Tracking your spending will determine how much money you already spend on on expenses, and it will influence how much you spend in the future.

4. You buy your own food and prepare your own meals.

It's one thing to feed yourself. The dining halls are always there for your convenience, especially when you're going between classes or coming home for the night. It's a completely different realm if you're preparing your own meals. Going out to your nearest Wal-Mart, buying groceries, coming back to your home, bringing all those bags inside, putting all the groceries away, and finally preparing your own meal for yourself. I'm not talking about Ramen; a six-year-old could make a pack of Ramen. I'm talking about actual food; food that takes time, effort, and preparation to make. It feels liberating to cook yourself breakfast in the morning. In my experience, I woke up at 6:00 AM on morning and could not go back to sleep, so I thought I would make myself breakfast instead of having a typical bowl of cereal. (Once again, a 6-year-old can pour themself a bowl of cereal and milk.) I PAM-sprayed my frying pan and lined it with salt and pepper and cooked myself four over medium eggs and four slices of bacon with green grapes, carrots, and celery on the side all with a cup of coffee. I never felt more like an adult after eating that meal. Don't forget to clean up your plate and your cooking supplies.

5. You call your parents.

Not because you want or need something them, but you want to know how they're doing. That's why they've been calling you all this time, interrupting your studying or your Tinder date. They want to know how you're doing and what you've been up to, and now it's time for you to do the same for them. Up until this point in life, your parents have always worried about you making sure each one of your needs is met and cultivating you to become and adult. Now you can return the favor by making sure they are taken care of.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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