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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

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