Things I wish I'd known in College

Whelp, the good ole DoD looks like it's starting to cut folks, and I may be on the chopping block. But fear not, loyal readers, nothing is for certain, and I most certainly wouldn't mind. I have this wonderful Post-911 GI bill, which means I get to go back to college without the soul crushing despair of poverty looming over my head.

Huzzah!

The first time around I didn't handle the collegiate lifestyle very well. So, for my benefit, and maybe somebody else's somewhere down the road, I give you a list of lesson's learned from screwing the pooch so badly the first time around that I had to join the military to get my life back on track.

1) College is NOT for partying: Let's face it, there's a totally unrealistic portrayal of college in the media, and my younger self totally drank the cool-aid on that one. Going to a big party once in a while is cool, even healthy, but partying every chance you get will burn you out, and become a major obstacle to you finishing those pesky "classes" you pay so much for.

2) You can't count on student loans: I went in to college without any scholarships. This wasn't because I wasn't smart enough to have gotten any, but because I was too lazy to fill out the applications before the deadline when I was still in high school, and too busy partying to keep my grades high enough to get them once I actually got to college. Every single penny is important, and I went in having not even tried to get my hands on free money.
So I tried to finance my education, and the well dried up, well before my senior year.

3) You CAN'T be whatever you want when you grow up: There is such a thing as a stupid major. You need to go in to college as a freshmen thinking about how you want to enter the work force after college, even if you aren't sure exactly what you want to do. Some majors are much more marketable and versatile than others. Fine Arts, for example, is not generally going to ensure you put food on the table. The same goes with most of your Liberal Arts. When your parents tell you College is about maturing and gaining life experience, they're referring to a time long past. You're there to study a craft and become competitive in a market full of unemployed English or Philosophy and Art majors. Find something you like, but make sure it pays well too.

4)Plan for Grad School: A Bachelors degree nowadays will get you as far as a high school diploma got you in the fifties. If you want to really do well, you need to master a trade, and that means a Masters degree, or some kind of advanced certification.

5) Take your Professor or TA seriously: Even if you hate them. Even if you can't understand their lectures, or if you have trouble staying awake. Even if they change the syllabus suddenly or assign insane last minute projects. Even if they tell you to read entire books overnight. They control your grade, which means they control your future. If they give you a stupid assignment, that sucks, do it, and do your damn best at it. If they create ridiculous deadlines, oh well, pull that all nighter. The real world is nowhere near as forgiving as College can be, so put yourself in the habit of working to the standard your bosses set for you.

6) Writing is a valuable life skill: Those annoying six page research papers every professor assigns over the weekend are for your benefit. If you want to move past entry level in any workforce, chances are you're going to have to generate reports. You're going to have to provide written analyses. You're going to have to write six page research papers. Suck it up and drive on.

7) Participate in an extracurricular activity: I burned out hardest when I decided that I had to buckle down and spend all of my energy working or studying. Everybody needs an outlet, find one and have fun with it. Make some friends.

8) Greek isn't stupid: Frats and Sororities have a rep for being either party obsessed or snobby, and sometimes they are, but finding the right Greek organization can give you valuable networking opportunities, and that counts for a lot, more than I can put in to words. Furthermore, you get more from life on social skills than actual competence, and if you're both competent and well socialized, you're more likely to be successful. Unfortunately this is something I probably can't fix at the ripe old age of 25. I will be older than most of my TA's, and rushing will be super weird for all parties involved.

Anyways, this is mostly something I can hopefully look back on later to remind myself of what's important once I get back in the classroom and start struggling to stay focused.