After being out of college for a few years, I have began to look back on my college experiences. Not that they weren't terrible, but I don't feel like I got the full enchilada. So here is my list of how to get the full college experience throughout your four, five, six, or however many years it take you to get through!
1)
Go away to college. I went to a college 20 minutes from my house. It was great getting to live at home and not worry about food and laundry. It was
not great when my parents started enforcing a curfew! (It didn't last long!) So my advice is go away. It doesn't have to be far. Just go!
2)
Live on campus. For at least one year, live on campus. This plays into point number one! I lived on campus (yes, even though I was 20 minutes from home!) and I loved it, for a while. You get to experience freedom for the first time. We stayed up late talking, watching movies, wandering around campus and town. It was a great experience. My advice on this is to
let the university pick your roommates! Which leads me to my next point.
3)
DON'T room with friends. If you still want this friend in your life years down the road, do not room with them in college. You will find out all of each others flaws and weird quirks that will drive you crazy! I roomed with some girls I met my first year at college, and to this day we no longer speak. The universities are great at matching you with someone most of the time! I would say take the risk and make a new friend!
4)
Enjoy the first two weeks. The first two weeks of every semester are great! Professors haven't assigned much yet, and hardly anyone has tests! I did not go to sleep before 2am during my first week living in the dorms, and it was awesome! We also went out on a late night sledding trip. Probably some of my best memories from college.
5)
Treasure your snow days. Snow days are few and far between in college. Say goodbye to the high school days where a dusting of snow got you off school. It has to be the next ice age for school to be cancelled! However, if you get lucky, treasure them. I was lucky enough to have two snow days in a row when I lived in the dorms. We went sledding on magazines, lunch trays, laundry baskets, and the best was trash bags! It was great!
6) Find your "Major" friends. You will not survive college without your group of friends in your major. I spent many upon many hours with my group studying for tests and working on papers together. We worked on one test for 22 hours straight! You will depend on these people to get you through your days and classes. Eventually, if you are lucky, they will be some of your life long friends!
7) Have a melt down. Every college student, whether they admit it or not, has at least one melt down in college. My came in the fall semester of my senior year. I had just taken a final and thought I had failed it. I called my mom screaming and crying while walking through the parking lot. I also had another one that week around 3am while working on a take home final. Thank God I had my group of friends there with me! Everyone in my group of friends had a melt down our senior year! You will make it. I repeat, you will make it!
8) Get ridiculously drunk. At least once in your college life, get so drunk that you can't remember it. It will be frowned upon if you do it when you are older! This leads me to my next point.
9) Go somewhere for Spring Break. This is one of the things I never did, and wish I did do! I look back at my friends pictures of PCB and wish I was there. I will never have that chance again! Don't be boring like me, take a trip somewhere! Whether that be to Panama City or your grandma in Iowa, just go somewhere and take a break! That is why they call it Spring Break!
10) Go to parties. Go to a few parties in your college career. Whether they are with your group of friends just hanging out, a frat party, or a party the campus throws, just go! The perfect time to do this is going back to number four. You don't have to worry about tests and homework just yet. So go out and meet some new people and enjoy life for the weekend!
11) Get free stuff. It is unbelievable how much free stuff is given away on campus! My campus showed free movies (with free popcorn and soda), they had bingo nights with the main prize being an iPad, they had casino nights, comedians come in (I saw Demetri Martin and Seth Meyers during college!), and there is usually always something going on during the middle of the day. Bands would come play, free food, free t-shirts...almost anything you can think of! So enjoy playing the poor, starving college student, and get yourself some free stuff!
12) Study abroad. This is something that I am most upset about missing out on! You get a chance to see that world (for almost free). Now, if I want to travel, I have to pay on my own...not happening. I even wish I would have done the Disney Internship where you go work at Disneyworld for the summer. That would have been a great experience. Don't let your personal life or your fears hold you back from this one!
13) Join clubs. Not the partying clubs. I mean things that interest you. Heck, even join a fraternity/sorority. If you do join, I would recommend living in the fraternity/sorority house. That is just my own opinion. However, if that's not your thing, join a basketball league, science club, student government. Just join something! I joined the cheer squad for my first year there, and had a blast with the girls!
14) Study. This one is unfortunate, but if you want to graduate from college you will need to study! Again, it is kind of the point of college, you know, to learn!!!
15) Have a part time job. Whether your parents cut you off, you have student loans, or just want that extra cash, have a part time job. I had 3 in college! I worked in the IT department on campus which was a kick ass job! I got to do my homework while I wasn't busy. I also worked at a State Farm office and watched my disabled sister. It was a lot, but two out of my three jobs allowed me to work on school stuff. Find something that will work with your needs.
16) Befriend some professors. These are the people deciding your fate in their class. Most professors have a mid term and final, and that is your grade! Kind of a make it or break it deal. Go to those office hours they post and get some help. I highly recommend befriending the professors in your major. They could possibly help you in the future with letters of recommendations or helping you find a job. If anything, just thank them for teaching you during the semester! A thank you can go a long way!
17) Take a nap in the library. I kid you not, it will be the most relaxing nap you have ever taken! My library was awesome and had some bean bags that you could lay on (I never did...kind of grossed me out!). I opted for the highest floor in the corner. I would pull two chairs together, put my book bag in between the chairs, and set my alarm. Best. Nap. Ever.
18) Invest in shoes. You will have to walk in the rain, snow, and shine. I highly recommend getting a pair of rain boots and snow boots. You may look like an idiot walking around in your rain boots, but you will be the one laughing when your jeans and socks are dry!
19) Walk at graduation. This is something that some people only dream of! I was very thankful to walk at my graduation. It brought my college career to a close. Yes, it was long a boring, but well worth it. This was something that you accomplished on your own, and you should be proud of that!
20) Simply enjoy. These may be the best years of your life. These are the years that you can do stupid shit and still get away with it. You can be free, try new things, and make new friends. Treasure all of the break downs, good times, and late nights. Once you graduate and get a job, most of that fun is over! Don't get me wrong, life is pretty great living on your own and working, but college years in your early twenties are something that you will never get back!
Comment with your own tidbits and pieces of advice! I would love to hear your own experiences!
~A
