Heading Back to School? Here Are 6 Don’ts to Keep in Mind
By Dr. Alan Kadish

Summer is waning, and college students across America are gearing up for a new semester. While many will stress over course schedules, dorm arrangements and textbook costs, it’s worthwhile to take a breather and remind yourself of some of your big picture goals as a college student. In order to maximize the experience, here is a list of what NOT to do for those who want to make the most of the coming semester:
1) Stay Just in your Comfort Zone
Do you have friends you know so well you can finish their sentences? Try branching out and meeting people who might surprise you in terms of their world view and beliefs. Get out of your comfort zone when it comes to friends, classes you take and events in which you participate. Try following unfamiliar news sources as well. In the internet age, we tend to consume news from media that make us comfortable and espouse our own world views, shutting out the perspective of those we deem to be faulty in their logic or beliefs. On the college campus, you have the opportunity to hear from many with a wide variety of backgrounds and views. Instead of sticking with your own, resolve to seek out others whose life experience is completely different. Be truly open to listening to their thoughts and opinions. You may not change your mind on key issues, but you’ll be a well-rounded person who can understand and even explain the reasoning behind others’ views. Those qualities are valued by employers in every field so you’ll be well-prepared for your future.
2) Limit Yourself to Specific Types of Classes
You may be interested in math or the humanities and planning to pursue a career as an accountant or a social worker. But even if you know your path and have identified your interests and careers that play to your strengths, get out of the box. Before you declare your major, take classes in completely different fields so you can open your mind to learning new disciplines and becoming educated in other areas. One of the advantages of the American higher educational system, as opposed to the European model, is the ability to take courses in any field. Higher education is all about exploring topics you have never thought about before, seeing the world from a different perspective and engaging with material that expands your thinking, and not simply prepares you for a career.
3) Bury Your Nose in Books
College is primarily about academics, but it is also a time for personal growth, and giving back is where you’ll experience that. Volunteer opportunities abound in any community. Find something about which you feel passionate –the homeless, medically underserved, children in low income schools — and seek out ways to give your time and talent. You’ll find that you will gain nearly as much as you give and you may discover a cause where you can make long term and meaningful contributions over the course of your academic and professional career.
Additionally, this is an opportune time to learn how to create balance in your life –study but not at the cost of your personal health. Eating well, getting enough sleep and managing stress are all critically important to your overall success. You can develop the skills to balance all the priorities on your plate — studying, giving back and self-care. You’ll need these as you enter the world and are require to manage career, family, personal and communal responsibilities.
4) Carry your Phone Everywhere you Go
Technology has become essential and enormously useful and yet, it has tremendous drawbacks when it comes to our ability to focus without distractions. It has been estimated that millennials check their phones upwards of 150 times daily and this can be a destructive habit. Resolve to fight that instinct and go back to the way things used to be before digital stimuli took over interpersonal communications. The learning process happens when we take the time to read, listen and focus on the environment around us. Even taking notes by hand, rather than typing them into your laptop, will help you commit the material to memory better. So study, read, and put away the phone. If you concentrate on living the moments, instead of missing them as you scroll through your feeds or capturing them to broadcast to hundreds on Snapchat or Instagram, you will gain so much more from your college experience.
5) Ignore Cost as You Embrace Experiences
While college is a time to throw caution to the wind in some instances and engage with your peers, professors and the variety of experiences that are available, it is also the first time most students have been living on their own and a time to learn to manage your own finances. You might try creating a budget based on your allowance and or earnings and monitoring it weekly or monthly. Write down everything you want to do, all the tools/books you feel you will need and the cost of each. Then see if your costs exceed the budget and start highlighting the activities and expenses you feel are major priorities and dropping the others. Determine if there’s extra money you can save for a rainy day activity or to put in the bank. Planning for financial responsibility will set you up for a lifetime. If you develop healthy financial habits now, you will be successful as you enter the workplace and set up your own home.
6) View Your Professors Merely as Teachers
Your professors are there to impart material in specific subject areas, but there is so much more they can offer. Many professors are happy to mentor students and encourage you as you identify your educational and career paths. If you take advantage of office hours or after class time to discuss the material and get their advice and opinions, you will gain so much more than information on what to study for the upcoming test. Some are conducting research and may offer you opportunities to join their lab. Most have real world experience and can impart invaluable information about workplace settings and graduate and professional school application process. As they get to know you more, they can help you identify which areas in a specific field might be the best fit for you and help you network with their colleagues for internships and ultimately, jobs. Many students who have developed these relationships point to years of connection, from their college years throughout their career. Some check in with professors who know them well as they make important professional and academic decisions. Mentoring by professors can offer longterm benefits so begin developing those relationships on day one.
Alan Kadish, M.D. is President of the Touro College and University System, the largest Jewish-sponsored educational institution in the United States. The system encompasses approximately 18,000 students across 30 campuses and locations in four countries. Under his leadership, Touro provides educational opportunities and career paths ranging from liberal arts to law, medicine, dentistry and health sciences to technology, business, education and more. Follow Dr. Kadish at https://twitter.com/DrKadish
