Essential Advice Before Entering College| 2024 Edition
Before starting college, I was told many different things about how to make my college experience the best. After being in college for one semester, I learned that the usual advice just doesn’t work.
Before high school graduates start college, everyone tells them the usual tips and tricks for when they start college. It’s always join clubs, get involved, go to all events, stay out of your dorm, and more of the typical. At least, that’s what I was told by everybody. Of course, I did all of that and had a blast, but my grades didn’t have a blast because of it.
I finished the semester with 5 B’s and one C. This is a good start to my college career, but since college grading is more rigorous, I finished the semester with a 2.8 GPA, the lowest I’ve ever had. I thought about what the problem was, the simple problem was that I forgot why I was there.
Even though college is a good place to social network and build life-long relationships, college is also the place to build professional relationships and get the opportunity to experience your new career. Depending on the major you choose, you can gain different opportunities to get hands-on experience in the field path you’re choosing.
It is crucial to make a good connection with professors and administrators in your college career. Most of them are there to help you, especially if you build a bond with them. They can be the best chance to land an internship. With the way the workforce is now, a college degree is not enough to land a job. Companies want experience, loads of it.
You have to know yourself before entering this new stage in your life. If you don’t know yourself, college will for sure help you find yourself quickly. Knowing yourself will make your college experience one hundred times better. If you like to focus on yourself and live in peace, it is perfectly fine to do that. If you are a social butterfly, then by all means go out and party the night away. If you are in the middle of those two, then find the perfect balance.
College is temporary. For most, it is only going to be a 2–4 year experience. Spend it wisely. The most memorable piece of advice, which I think is the best advice for everyone, college is what you make it.