Skip to main content

Things I wish I knew as a college student

I was asked this question recently and all I could think was – where would I start? If I could time travel back to my college years or even my early twenties, I would need months to sit down with my young stubborn self to have enough time to really talk sense into myself. One of the reasons I LOVE student coaching is that I get to help students really change their thinking when it comes to dealing with problems and dealing with people – skills I wish I had had when I was in school.

Here are a few of the topics I would be sure to address with my college-age self. Keep in mind this is me talking to myself – think of it as an abbreviated diary entry.

You often don’t know enough to have an opinion. You’re not dumb, you’re not stupid, and you’re not irrelevant. However, your limited life experiences give you a limited perspective. Before opening your mouth and committing yourself to a stance or opinion, education yourself. (To be fair, my college aged self didn’t have the internet!)

Your instructors are not out to get you. In the big classes, they don’t even know you exist. Your teachers are teachers because they love to teach! They are dying to help you, to explain things to you, and discuss things with you – all the things! Go visit them during office hours, get to know them, and you’ll get so much more out of your college experience!

Stop being so distracted by every shiny thing. Learn and practice focus: one thing at a time doing your best work. Working three jobs makes you a quasi-martyr, but no one cares because you don’t need the extra money. Focus on the task at hand: school and your co-op.

Don’t settle. Don’t take the first job offered to you because there’s literally a world of opportunity out there. Look around and find a good fit.

Stop telling yourself you’re not good enough. You’re more than good enough, you’ll always be better than good enough. The negative self-talk does you no good and only causes you to despise yourself more. No matter what pressures you feel from the outside world, you’re an amazing person doing amazing things: be confident in your amazingness.

You watch too much TV. In your mid-twenties you’ll remember how much you love to read just for the fun of it, but until then enough with the TV! There’s so much to see and do!

Go outside. Obvious follow-on to “You watch too much TV”.

My younger self was a hot mess, but aren’t we all? We are all works in progress at any age. We all seek approval from those we love and admire.

The trick is doing the actual work that goes along with personal growth and development. We’ll talk more about ways you can grow tomorrow!

Kelley

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Can I Get an A in Your Class?

The Huffington Post published an article a few years back giving college students some ideas about things they might want to ask their professors and also topics from which they probably want to steer clear. Today’s question that you might want to ask your instructor: how can I get an A in your class? There are so many things to talk about when answering this question, so I’ll be as brief as possible while trying to hit all the highlights! ·          Show up! Coming to class is the first step in success, and if you’re in an online class, this means logging in at least 4-5 times per week and participating in the discussion forums. There is so much to be gained by simply showing up! ·          Be prepared! You must have the essentials: paper, pencil, computer, internet, textbook. None of these is optional. If aren’t going to have the required course materials, don’t bother signing up for classes...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why You Don’t Want to Cheat to Get Into College

As this huge scandal breaks in the news about wealthy people involved in cheating scandals to get their children into the best schools, it occurs to me that there is an overarching discussion here that is being overlooked: you don’t want to cheat to get into college because if you don’t meet the entrance requirements, it is highly unlikely that you will be successful at that school. If you are a mediocre student, no matter how wealthy your parents are, you will want to go to a school where you and your peers are on somewhat equal footing. Remember that professors have to teach to their audience: if the audience consists of members of MENSA and one mediocre student, that one mediocre student is going to get left behind and will likely not be successful at that school. If a professor’s audience is made up of decent students and a handful of mediocre students, the mediocre student is much more likely to be successful at that school. I’m not completely blind to the social press...
Post a Comment
Read more

Retention of Information vs. Attention

A common query from students is about the retention of information: how can a student best retain information they are learning in class? The number one way to increase retention is quite simply to pay attention. Paying attention doesn’t just mean staying awake in class, it means being actively engaged in the classroom. The amount of information you will retain is directly correlated (in my opinion) to the amount of energy you put into the following: ·          Taking notes . There is evidence that writing information is key to long-term retention. There is a brain-to-pencil connection that just cannot be duplicated, so taking meaningful notes in class is key to retaining information. ·          Asking and answering questions. If you are actively engaged in the classroom, you will also be active in the classroom discussion. The more involved you are in the discussion, the more personally investe...
Post a Comment
Read more