College Grades

College can be tough. You’re living away from home for the first time and maybe even far away from home in a different state or different country. On top of that, you’re going to be trying to make a new set of friends which can be stressful. After all, you may not have had to make new friends since you started elementary school and that can make you feel lost. On top of all of that, you have pressure in college to do your best.

You may have had really good grades in High School and been at the top of your class. You may think college is going to be the same and you’ll have stunning grades just like in High School. This may turn out to be true, but it may also turn out that you’re grades aren’t as great and you find yourself struggling. This can be quite frustrating and disheartening. After all, you were looking forward to college a lot and had a picture in your head of how it would be and the reality isn’t matching up.  It may be sad at first, but don’t stay sad for long because it will affect your grades even more. The fact is, college is tougher than High School. You have a larger work load, you’re learning new concepts at a faster pace, and it can be quite overwhelming. In High School, you may have been able to get away with short one sentence answers to homework questions and your essays may have only had to be one page. In college, even your essays are harder. They are going to be longer and you have to write even more in depth than you did in High School. It will be something you get used to. Your first essay may not be so great, but as you write more of them, you will find out the amount of information you need to put in and how to bring your writing to a college level. Your first semester at college is going to be quite overwhelming because there are a lot of different things you have to get used to at once. However, if you find yourself struggling with your college courses, you can’t dwell on the fact that you’re struggling for too long because there are resources out there to help you. If you find yourself doing great in your other subjects but the essays you used to be so great at writing aren’t cutting it anymore, seek out a tutor. It can be a new friend that is really good at writing essays or it can be a tutor in your college’s tutoring center. The most important thing to remember is to not get frustrated. It isn’t that you don’t know the subject, it’s that college is going to be tougher than what you’re used to and there are different expectations. Don’t let some beginning frustration and bad grades make you think that college just isn’t for you. If you’re having a lot of trouble with a new concept, reach out to people who can help you and yes, even study more. Once you have a routine down and you feel more comfortable and have reached out for help if you needed it, you will become used to how to write and what you need to do in order to succeed. The key is to never give up, reach out for help, and know that you’re not the only one struggling at the beginning of college.

How to Save Money in College

College will give you a lot of freedom and teach you about living independently, even if it’s only for August to May. You’re going to be doing laundry on your own - yes, you need to learn how to do that! You’re going to be cooking a little, even if it’s only with your microwave or toaster and learning how to get your toast done the perfect amount without setting off the fire alarm. You’re also going to be on your own financially. When you lived at home with your parents, you probably didn’t go out and spend money on clothes or even a coffee shop drink as often. When you’re in college, you’re on your own and it’s easier to splurge on a new shirt or a coffee on campus every day. So how can you save money in college beyond having a budget?

It may sound weird to think that by spending a little more money at one time, you can save overall. However, it’s true – invest in things like water pitchers with filters so you can drink the tap water in your college dorm room. You’ll always have cool water in your mini-fridge that you can fill your reusable water bottle with and save money on bottled water. Similarly, if you find yourself heading toward a coffee shop on campus to buy an expensive coffee every day, you can save a lot of money by investing in a coffee maker to keep in your college dorm room. The cost of the coffee maker will be much less than what would spend in a whole year or even just a semester of getting coffee in the coffee shop every day. When you get takeout, you may eat some of it and then throw the leftovers away. Leftovers are going to be one of your best friends in college. Invest in small containers to keep your leftovers in so you can have lunch or dinner the next day. Another way to save some money is actually with your student ID. Some stores whether on campus or even in the mall may offer student discounts with a Student ID. Not sure if they offer a discount? Simply ask! And if you want to go to a museum, art exhibit, or zoo with your friends, those places may have discounts or even certain days you can get in free with a student ID.

Dorming – It’s About More Than Your Roommate

When you think about dorming, you probably think about living with a roommate. It’s understandable – one of the two things that come to anyone’s mind about living in a dorm room is a roommate and that you don’t have much room for your dorm necessities. You don’t really think about the area outside of your college dorm room. When you think about it, you live with one or two dorm roommates that you have to be considerate of but then you have everyone else on your college dorm floor and in your residence hall to be considerate of.

Loud Music – You may have had your music really loud when you were at home and your parents wouldn’t say anything. However, when you’re in college, there are a lot more people around you who have different schedules than you do. The college student in the room right next to yours may have a full schedule and are trying to study during the only free time they have. If you can hear your music outside of your dorm room with your dorm door closed, then your music is too loud. Plus if your music is too loud even if it isn’t quiet hours, your RA will be knocking on your door for you to turn down your music. Avoid getting on the bad side of the RA and be considerate in regards to your music from the start.

Laundry – There are a lot of college students living in the same residence hall. For all of those college students, there are surprisingly few washers and dryers in the dorm laundry room. When you do get the chance to wash and dry your clothes, be considerate of others in the residence hall and remove your clothes promptly. You don’t want to leave your clothes sitting in the washer or dryer for a long time after they are done. If you do happen to do that, you’re going to be preventing someone else from washing or drying their laundry or you could even end up with someone else taking your laundry out and placing either gently or not so gently on a table or floor nearby.

Common Rooms – Your residence hall may have a common room on each floor that you can watch TV, hang out with friends, and possibly even cook. These common rooms are great but you want to be considerate of others and not take over the common room too much. You don’t want to spend all day watching TV in the common room and prevent other college students from using it. You also don’t want to leave a mess in the kitchen area or anywhere in the common room. A good rule of thumb is to leave it looking like you were never there. 

The Importance of an Internship

You may already know what you want to do for a career when you get out of college. Or maybe you even have a few ideas of what you want to do with the degree you will be receiving. Even though you think you know what you want to do when you get out of college, you still need to do some legwork to make sure. One of those things you can do? An internship! And it’s not just good for finding out for sure what you want to do – you can also get college credit for it.

You don’t want to take just any old internship you can find so that you get that college requirement taken care of. An internship is valuable experience that will also look great on a resume later. You want your internship to be relevant to what you want to do. You also want to do your best in your internship. Learn all you can. Your internship can help you decide if you really want to work in this career when you get out of college. Maybe after seeing what others in the field are doing, you decide it really isn’t for you. Don’t stay sad or frustrated about it – that’s a valuable thing to learn before you receive your degree and actually get a job in the field because then you can direct your focus into another idea for a career you may have had. Your internship is important. You want to take it as seriously as you do your college classes. When you’re in college and doing internships, you want to be able to get good references for your resume for your career later on. You don’t want to half-heartedly go through your internship and then apply for a career in the field later on to find the interview process isn’t going so well for you. Absorb everything you can at your internship. Absorb plenty of information, take on any responsibilities you can, and most of all enjoy it. Two important things to remember as you’re looking at internships is if there is something you really want to do and are interested in but it is farther away than the area you are in, if you can do it then do it. Don’t stay in the area because you don’t want to be away from your friends. Internships only last for a certain amount of weeks. Trust me – it’s better to take a leap and try out the internship than to regret that you didn’t do it for years. Think you’re only limited to one internship? You’re not! Well, you can only do one a time but you don’t have to stick with just the one internship. Taking on additional internships throughout college will give you more experience and that is quite valuable.