Embracing Your New-Found Freedom

When you got to college, you recognized right away the freedoms that you had. OK, so it probably wasn’t be in bed by 9 p.m. or you’re grounded back home, but even if you had lax parents, rules were always there, spoken or otherwise. Now that you’re in college, it’s all up to you. But don’t go crazy just yet!

Sometimes the lack of restrictions can be a bit of a wake-up call. Yet it’s too often that this lack of rules is applied only to getting crazy. Instead, take a more holistic view of the freedoms that college offers. You have freedom in every sense, and you can embrace that from a developmental, social, and, yes, even academic standpoint.

So maybe your parents didn’t like some of the friends you hung out with. Maybe they had reason, or maybe they were just being old-fashioned. Now that you’re in college, you’ll be the only person who decides or really has any influence with whom you hangout. No, this doesn’t mean you should jump to hangout with the “wrong crowd,” but what it does mean is that you can take the chance to get to know a variety of new people. Even if your school isn’t huge, there will be plenty of people to meet and people from a lot of different backgrounds. So take advantage and make some new friends, friends that might be different from who you usually hung out with.

College is also the time to explore some new hobbies and fun freedoms. If you’re interested in an activity, be it dodgeball, rock climbing, or computer programing, there’s probably a club or group out there just waiting for you to join. So now that you have the freedom, why not? After school, you won’t have such a wealth and concentration of new activities and things to get involved in so readily available. Since you’re in college, now’s your chance! And there’s really nothing to lose when it comes to trying a new activity, so take advantage and have some fun.

You might not be sure for quite some time what you’ll major in. That’s all right, since, once again, it’s time to be free and explore. But whether you’re sure or not, take the time—and the freedom—to explore some new classes. You’ll probably be majoring in what you find to be the most interesting, but there’s bound to be more that’s interesting to you out there, and now you can learn all about it. If you despised history in high school, you probably won’t magically love it in college, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t yet unknown subjects out there that you’ll enjoy. And you’re free to choose whichever ones you’d like.

This is really just a sample of freedoms that college offers. All the choices you make, on a daily level, on a semester level, and on a level that may impact the rest of your life, are yours to make. That prospect might be a bit scary, but take your time to think about any such choices and just remember that such opportunity won’t be around forever. So, let freedom ring. 

Don't Just Sit There Your First Year. Get Involved

When it comes down to it, college is what you make of it. If you plan to succeed, it’ll mean long study sessions all alone into the wee hours of the night. But where’s the fun in focusing only on academics? No, we’re not condoning treating college like one long party, but there’s a fun side and social side of going to school, and yes, those aspects take some effort as well.

If you’re dorming your first year, as you probably are, you’ll be meeting plenty of new faces and making all sorts of new friends—that’s one of the best parts about dorming! When you’re living in such close quarters, frankly you have to make an effort not to get to know your fellow dormmates.

And then there are classes. As in high school classes, you’ll be paired up with other students for projects, in-class debates, and all sorts of academic group work. These all provide opportunities to speak with people you otherwise wouldn’t have and to make new friends. But in some classes, namely those big lecture-style classes, don’t be surprised if you don’t speak with anyone; with a professor lecturing in monotone to a group of 100 students, there’s not exactly much room for conversation.

Next to dorming, the best way to meet new friends involves a simple process: find a club or activity that you’re interested in and … join it! You’re really just making up excuses if you say there’s no club that interests you. Your school, not matter how big or small it is, will have a plethora of clubs and activities for you, the student. Some involve interest in an academic field, some focus on sports, and others revolve around downright eclectic interests such as medieval philosophies and lesser-known board games—trust us, no matter your hobbies or interests, there’s an extracurricular club out there for you.

Not only does getting involved in an activity further your initial interest, but you’ll be surrounded by people with a common interest. Again, you’d have to practically try not to meet new people. And whatever your chosen activity, you’ll only further develop that interest by being immersed in a group of just-as-avid other students.

The sooner you get involved in a club, the better off you’ll be. It’s easier to get to know other members when everyone’s still new and looking to make new friends. That and if you arrived to school without knowing anyone, you don’t want to spend your first semester eating alone and hanging out with your goldfish all the time, do you? So be quick to get involved. School clubs and organizations will be peppering you with fliers and handouts to get the word about their club. Don’t just stuff those in your trash. Read them. And better yet, sign up!

The Other Side of College Learning: A Well-Rounded Education Beyond the Textbook

No matter your major, there are plenty of facts to learn and memorize throughout college. Yet, there’s an unstated group of skills that college should also teach, skills that are often picked up if not studied directly, though you won’t find them on any syllabi. As you go through college, there are other skills worth making sure that you’ve learned, as, like it or not, you’ll be expected to have working knowledge, if not be a master, of the said skills.

Writing

You don’t need to be an English major to know how to write well, or at least how to write concisely, properly, and effectively. No matter your major, college life will require you to do plenty of writing. This is a huge annoyance to some students, but if that’s you, then you should actually be more  appreciative of the chance to practice. You probably won’t be writing many 10-page papers after graduation, but you will be writing emails, memos, and other messages that require the written word. It’s quite frustrating when, after writing something, it’s ambiguous and incomplete in its message. Also, there are a number of grammar and punctuation rules your expected to follow that college helps to entrench correctly—hopefully you caught that slip-up in the last sentence if you’re paying attention.

Speaking

Speaking in front of large groups isn’t a pleasant activity for most, neither is speaking about yourself during a job interview. Even so, college again is supposed to help foster such communicative skills. There are public speaking classes in most schools, yet even just communicating well on a personal level is a skill worth making sure you’re capable of. This one, at least, isn’t too hard to work on, as, if you talk to anyone, you’re practicing. And while most of us don’t go around starting conversations to boost communicative skills, at any workplace, it’ll be a skill that’s used daily.

Politics

OK, so maybe you didn’t vote in your last local election or maybe you still need to update your registered voting address. And maybe you’re not tuned in to CSPAN daily. Either way, it’s not a bad idea to have a basic knowledge of politics and to maintain it throughout college and afterwards. Knowing and caring about what’s happening in your community, and the whole world for that matter, will never be a bad thing. While so much discussion about politics is synonmous with frustration and anger, no one says you have to get feelings mixed up while trying to make yourself more aware!

Manners

You might learn to say please and thank you while you’re in kindergarten, but now’s the time to make sure you’re putting all of that learning into effect! No, once again you won’t find many classes in college out there on manners and etiquette, but by now, you probably know what’s right and expected. Your parents’ generation might appreciate such old-fashioned etiquette more, yet good manners are never a bad thing to posses, whether you’re grabbing lunch with a professor or on a first date. 

Is There Enough Fun To Be Had In College?

Pursuing new academic interests is one of the often mentioned goals of college. But what about finding new hobbies? That’s actually another benefit that comes from school. While college will always be about expanding your educational horizons, it’s also a great time to pick up a few new activities that you enjoy doing. 

Before going further, perhaps it seems college wouldn’t be such an ideal time to discover new hobbies or interests. After all, a significant part of college life involves schoolwork. That being said, though, you’ll still take time—and need time—to unwind. And for such reprieve, college offers the perfect environment. 

You know that, even if you go to a small school, there will be plenty of extracurricular events occurring at all times. Have you ever tried rock climbing? How about painting? You’ll be in an environment where there are always new things going on, and opportunities to try them all will be in abundance. Best of all, since it’ll be a school club, it’ll be free!

You might not think you need any help finding new forms of fun or new hobbies, but what if you discover something that you really like? This same concept is often applied to learning; you’ll frequently hear that college is a great time to explore academic interests, and it’s part of the reason why your school probably has diverse general education requirements. So take this same spirit and apply it to your hobbies, as you won’t know what’s out there until you try.

At the very least, you’ll certainly hear friends discussing TV shows and music that they like, and you’ll probably check out what they’re interested in, too. This will lead to further discovery of new interests, and while becoming a fan of a new favorite show isn’t exactly going to be life-changing or one of your best college memories, it’ll serve as a minor example of the sort of connections and new experiences that college life fosters.

And if you’re one for sports or other recreational physical activity, college again provides the best time to try something new. It might not be the easiest to get into, say, touch football a couple decades down the road. So don’t miss out on such activities while you can! 

Staying Green in College: Tips For Environmentally Friendly Dorm and College Life

It’s been trendy for years now to live as environmentally friendly as possible; there are even some rather extreme green methods of green living out there! Yet, assuming you’d like to do your part and help out the earth, you don’t need to live a plastic-free life just to have a more green lifestyle in college. There are a variety of simple, effective, and college-related means of staying green.

Unplug Your Dorm

No matter if you spend plenty of time in your dorm room or go there mainly just to sleep, many of your electronics, or devices related to your electronics, will always remain in your dorm room. Your charger for your cellphone and for your laptop, for example, are probably lying in some tangle on your floor. Aside from being a tripping hazard (which is a topic for

another day), those chargers can be doing damage if unchecked. OK, they’re not really a safety threat, but they’re an earth-health threat. Don’t leave them plugged in when not in use, as you’ll drain unneeded electricity. No, you don’t pay an electrical bill for your dorm room, but since it’s so easy to just unplug those chargers, don’t leave them needlessly plugged in. The same goes for your electric pencil sharpener, printer, and other electronics that you might not use often. Sucking up unneeded electricity is like pouring water down the drain. Why waste?

Keep it in Park

While you’re on campus, you might have brought a car to school, even if it’s your first year. Maybe you need to drive to sports practice or to club meetings off-campus. Either way, don’t use your car when it’s not needed. In fact, you’re likely not even adding to the convenience factor when driving when you consider parking, gas, traffic jams, and possibly a fender bender. Even if your campus is spread out, it’ll never be out of the question to walk, ride a bike, or take a campus shuttle if available. You know that walking and biking will also combat freshman-year weight gain, so it’s a win-win.

Finish Your Food

Speaking of weight gain, that all-you-can-eat school cafeteria will be beckoning at all hours of the day and night. Usually it’s a quick swipe of your student ID, and plates of plates of food are yours for the taking. Hopefully it tastes good, and if it does, that smorgasbord of plates can pile up quick on your cafeteria tray. There’s plenty to be said about healthy eating in college, yet also consider reducing wasting food. A few bites of a sandwich here, half a cookie there, and some spoonfuls of soup might comprise a meal, but consider how much you just threw out. You might think uneaten food is helping your figure, but you’re also wasting and hurting the environment with every tossed bite. Instead, take only what you plan to consume and avoid sending half your meal to some landfill. Some green-innovative schools collect food scraps for compost. How about getting that started in your school?

Plenty of Paper

Along those lines, avoid tearing out 15 napkins, using two, and then tossing the rest. To save paper further, you can look toward the classroom. You’ll receive plenty of syllabi and paper handouts throughout your college career, which means lots of felled trees. You probably won’t be rushing out to plant more trees, but you can certainly recycle all those papers. (OK, you might have to resist the urge to burn a folder from a particularly loathsome class.) Recycling a whole course-load of papers can really add up. And it’s not like any extra work is required—just drop it in the recycling bin instead of the trash!

If At First You Don't Succeed, Get Organized!

It was freshman year of college, my very first semester. Although I was nervous at first, everything began to run smoothly and I thought I was poised for success. I say “thought” as my confidence came crashing down at the semester’s end. It was a Tuesday.

That morning at 9 AM I got a text from a friend asking why I was not in class to give my final presentation. My final presentation. I was supposed to present at 8 AM and had essentially missed my final exam. It was all I could think about as I trekked up the three floors to my professor’s office, trying to think of a way to explain that I had mixed up my schedule. It was a Tuesday/Thursday class, and I thought the exam was on Thursday. After a tearful apology, my professor informed me that he would give me an F instead of a zero, it was all he could do. I understood, it was a presentation, how could I make it up, but I was devastated nonetheless. After a reasonable amount of crying and sulking I chalked it up to a learning experience and told myself it would never happen again. That is until it did happen again on Thursday of that week. I got to my class, ready to ace the final, but was the only one there. Apparently, all Thursday classes had their exams on Tuesday. Two Finals missed in my first semester at college.

To make an even longer story short, I felt the repercussions of my disorganization when my grades in those two classes fell and I was kicked out of Honor Society. While this was devastating to me at the time, I did learn an important lesson: To succeed one must get organized. It doesn't matter how smart you are or how much you have studied,  if you don’t know when and where things are, you will get yourself into some sticky situations. After resolving to never EVER let something like that happen again, I made some changes. I got organized. Here’s how:

Buy an Agenda

In middle school teachers are always harping on their students to carry and use an agenda. They try to get students into the habit so that they will be organized for high school and beyond. Some students take this advice and others don’t. If you haven’t yet made your peace with the agenda, it’s time to do so now. The agenda/calendar will be your most important tool in college and beyond. Don’t believe me? Think about it. You have at minimum 5 classes, all with different assignments and different due dates. That’s a lot to remember for anyone, and even harder for a college student who has to juggle work, practice, and other important social engagements.

Color Code

If you’re running out of your dorm room or racing to school from work, you are bound to grab the wrong black notebook. What you thought was History 101 will actually turn out to be Intro to Writing. Color coding your notebooks and other college essentials will make your life easier. Guaranteed. You won’t have to spend your precious time looking for things as you will have a visual and won’t be reading through names until you find the right one.

Make a Physical List

Sure, you mentally catalog everything you need to accomplish in a day, but you are bound to forget at least one of those things, and it could be the most important to-do on your list. If you are writing down what needs to be done, you won’t forget, and will even come up with a plan to get everything done in time. This not only helps with your organization, but your time management. Get a dry erase board and put it next to your bed or desk, that way you can add to it when you think of things.

Organize Your Work Space

There are tons of supplies for college that will allow you to get organized. Some essentials are even color coded - bonus! Whether you’re at your dorm room desk or the one in the spare room of your house, organize your work space. This will allow you to concentrate when you are working and focus on the task at hand, without being surrounded by clutter. Buy cheap bookshelves to store your books and notebooks or get individual shelves on which to store all of the supplies for each class. Find color-coded bins that will collect the work you haven't finished for your classes, so that whatever you do, you’re not folding up your work and putting it in your textbook.

Organization for college may seem like the most basic of things, but it is the most important thing you can do to ensure that you are successful. Take it from someone who had to learn the hard way. After I saw the error of my ways I made the dean’s list every semester, but I first had to learn the importance of staying organized.

Commuters are Students Too, So Get Involved!

When thinking about college life, it’s easy to get caught up in the Hollywood ideal. Sure, Elle Woods made studying all night seem fun, and yeah, Bartleby Gains did seem to live it up while exploring education and throwing endless parties. Becca even made becoming the star of an A Capella club seem not only easy, but probable, and who could ever forget Notre Dame star, Rudy Ruettiger. Rarely, however,  is there the thought that students don’t actually live on campus. The glorification of on-campus living does a disservice to the millions of commuter students who travel back and forth to school each day. Hey, they’re student’s, too! While it’s easy to feel disenfranchised as a commuter student, there are many ways to take part in college life and feel like a valued part of your school community.

Go Ahead, Join!

Joining a club or taking part in the volunteer activities offered at almost all colleges and universities is the first step to enjoying the college experience. Yes, in the beginning you may not know anyone, but joining a club centered around an activity you enjoy assures that you will be with people who have like-minded interests. Instead of standing around awkwardly hoping that no one notices you’re new, you can strike up a conversation about your experiences. Attempting to get to know people without having any shared experiences can be tough, that’s why joining an activity is crucial - you will already have something to talk about. Even more compelling is that you won’t have to stretch your interests to find something that is appealing. Most colleges offer hundreds of clubs - from music and sports to art and even horticulture.

Work On Campus

Commuters usually commute for a reason: it’s cheaper, there are responsibilities at home, housing elsewhere is more appealing, etc… However, almost all commuters have jobs, and most often, they are off-campus. So here’s an idea: try working on-campus. If you can finagle a position at your school, your co-workers will be fellow students or even classmates, allowing you to know more people and feel more involved in the campus community. Working on-campus also assures that you are familiar with the various buildings and departments at your school, as your duties will include working in places that you may have never thought about entering otherwise. Sure, you may have never set foot in a gym to workout, but working the front desk will give you contact with many students you may not see in your daily routine.

Take Part in Campus Sponsored Activities

Every college has departments dedicated to enhancing the student experience and they will regularly host events that are free to students or can be enjoyed for only a minimal fee. These include concerts, athletic events, comedy shows, and trips to off campus sites, such as museums. As a commuter, you may have to come back to campus to enjoy these events, which undoubtedly means getting out of work early, getting a ride, or just getting off your couch, but it will be worth it. Sharing new experiences with your fellow students will only help to make you feel like you belong and will enhance your overall college experience.

Although being a commuter can sometimes make you feel like you’re on the outside looking in, there are many ways to get involved and shake the feeling of being an outsider. Getting involved in clubs, campus-sponsored activities, and working at school are all good gateways to becoming more socially adept in an unfamiliar place. So the next time you have an opportunity to join -  do it - Bobby Boucher did, and look how he turned out.

When Coffee Doesn’t Cut It: Try Different Ways To Energize

Coffee goes well with a bagel, or a donut, or even a piece of plain toast. But there are a few things it goes even better with: namely, all-nighters, 15-page papers, and final exams. Coffee is as much part of college culture as, well, 15-page papers and final exams. Although coffee goes well with school work, it’s more so that the combination is a necessity, like cereal with milk.

If you drink coffee now, you’re likely to consume even more in college. And if you don’t, you’ll probably start.  Coffee has been and will forever be not just the crammer’s drink of choice, but the preferred beverage of the everyday student looking for that boost after an 8 a.m. bio exam. Some students are unable to escape the addicting, bitter hold of a half-a-pot-a-day habit; it’s something they’ll live with for the rest of their lives.

But before you become addicted, try another means of staying energized—and no, don’t just replace the coffee with some just-as-caffeinated, chemical-laced energy drink (you’re probably better off sticking to coffee in that case).

You’ve probably heard that exercising more will actually increase energy levels. It’s understandably difficult to hit the gym when you’re tired, but in this case, peer pressure can actually benefit you. As you’ll see during your first couple weeks, heading to the gym and being active are a big part of college life. While some freshmen are probably hoping just to stay clear of the dreaded “freshman 15,” most students workout to stay healthy, go figure. And as an activity that can be social,prepare to be asked many times if you want to go to they gym; don’t forget to pack your gym clothes. Regular exercise will keep those energy levels higher, and you’re guaranteed to feel better afterward. Instead of reaching for coffee, take a 10-minute treadmill jog and compare results.  

Perhaps the gym’s just not for you, and you don’t like running and didn’t bring a bike to school. Fear not. College offers an array of different activities designed to get you moving and energized. Join a yoga club, play an intramural sport, receive credit to take a karate or swimming class. Some exercise will do you more good than a 20-oz coffee, and conversely, it’ll probably help you sleep at night.

If your dorm room is loaded up on snack foods, how much of it is actually healthy? Have anything high in protein or fiber? Most packaged, sweet snacks are high in carbohydrates, so that means quick energy and then, like coffee, a crash. Keep those snacks varied; toss in some fruit, nuts, or healthier cereal into the mix. And since college’s busy lifestyle might have you missing meals now and then, remember to actually eat! Coffee is coffee, but if it’s the only thing in your system, good luck feeling energized.

Napping, of course, is a great energy enhancer. Just try and not let those naps become six-hour sleeping sessions. Maintaining a regular sleeping schedule can be tough with classes starting and taking place at all hours of the day and evening. But don’t let your schedule rule your life. No matter if it’s late or early, go to bed around the same time and wake up around the same time. Staying up until dawn and then compensating with extra sleep will only throw your internal clock out of alignment, and  an out-of-whack body is not an energized body.

Remember, you shouldn’t have to quit coffee cold turkey. You’ll know when you’re drinking too much, and that’s when it’s time to look into other means of energy. Still, allow yourself a cup or two when you’d like. It can be a great study aid, just don’t over do it.  

Call Your Parents More Than Just When You Need Something!

As busy as you may become while in college, there’s always time for a quick call home, right? You might think so, but you also might be guilty of calling home only when you need something … like more money! In all honesty, hopefully you think of your parents for more than that reason, but finding time to call home can be tough. College life isn’t very conducive to calling home, as college life’s schedule is defined by lack of a schedule. You might be up studying, at a night class, or out to a party, leaving you without a chance or a regular time to call home.

Then, when you do have to call home, there will usually be a reason behind it, a reason other than just to see how mom and dad are doing (although you can bet they’ll be wondering how you’re doing!). If you do get into the habit of calling only when you need something, you can really surprise them by calling just to check in. It will be an appreciated call.

There are, of course, parents who call too much. You wake up, mom’s on the phone. You brush your teeth, dad’s on the phone. You get to class, mom’s calling again … cause she forgot to say “love you” when you hastily hung up the first time! Calls from parents can get a little excessive, so it sometimes helps to make a schedule. As mentioned, it can be tough sticking to a day-to-day calling routine since college life can be so chaotic. Still, if you plan to talk every night, or even every other night, in the evening, you’ll have looser guidelines that will still provide a chance to talk.

While being busy can be a somewhat legitimate excuse for not making a call home when you know you should, there’s no reason you can’t keep that call brief. With the five or ten minutes it takes to walk to class, you can make that needed call and waste no time at all! (And if you need a reason to get off the phone, well, we don’t think your parents will object to you wanting to get to class on time.) Sometimes, too, even though you’ll be doing new things every day, it can feel like there’s not a lot to talk about. The truth is, it doesn’t matter that much! You’re just talking to your parents. You can say pretty much anything, it’ll keep them happy.

The only tough part can be if they ask about a sensitive subject, such as grades. While there’s no need to lie about things, there’s also no need to get into the exact numbers if the numbers aren’t so great. But you will be lying if you say that you’re trying and you’re not! So be sure you’re putting in some effort academically.

The bottom line is, it’s a universal rule that parents like when you call. It doesn’t have to be for a long conversation and it doesn’t have to be for any specific reason. Just make the call when you’re not in need of something, and it’ll make their day. Now, even if you didn’t have the best relationship with your parents, what’s a quick call compared to having to live with them? It isn’t too much to ask, and it will be an appreciated effort.

How Much Should You Study In College?

You’ve undoubtedly heard plenty of stories about college students staying up until all hours of the night in attempt to study for some big exam the next day. Between all the coffee consumed and spaced-out states of conscious experienced the next day, it hardly sounds like an enviable undertaking. Yet, it’s inevitable for all college students, right? You’ll be stuck staying up extra late in preparation for a test the next day at least a few times during college.

The best answer, realistically speaking, is: probably. Even if you’re diligent about studying

and don’t procrastinate, since college life will have you busy, there will most likely be an occasion or two when you have to stay up the whole night or almost the whole night to cram in your studying. It sounds obvious then that plenty of studying is required to succeed in college. While that’s true, the extent of studying required shouldn’t frighten you, because if you take the right steps, you’ll be well prepared, even without suffering through an all-nighter the night before.

While we could tell you about the benefits of studying steadily as opposed to trying to cram everything in in one night, you can probably figure those out on your own. You simply won’t study your best six hours in at 3 a.m., no matter how much coffee you’ve consumed. But the amount of studying needed in the first place can vary. Don’t think that there’s some secret formula to succeeding in college without ever studying, because there isn’t. Yet by studying effectively, you won’t need to study as much.

The first step to studying is actually undertaken right while you’re in class. If you look around the classroom, whether it’s a big lecture or a small class, you’ll be surprised to see how many students are just sitting there or are doodling or even playing computer games! If you want to study more effectively and ultimately study less, you should be taking notes. By writing something down, you’ll be naturally more inclined to remember it. And, while this is obvious, you’ll need your notes to study later on.

You’ll hear many professors tell you that it’s best to review your notes shortly after they’re taken. So many say this because it’s, well, true. If you review, even if only for a few minutes, after you’ve taken notes in a lecture, you’ll help build a better foundation for remembering material. This results in less time spent studying before the big test and also makes you feel more prepared as you go. By staying up on your notes and the material, you’ll also follow along more easily with consecutive coursework. Like any class, the material builds on itself. So by staying attuned to the basics and last week’s material, you’ll be ready for the new stuff.

While it’s tough to put an exact number on how many hours you’ll need to study per class, there’s another way to lessen the overall time spent: do your reading! Teachers will constantly bring this up as well. Once again, there’s a reason for that: it works. By doing the reading for a class, you’ll be more familiar with the material presented in a lecture. No, you won’t be able to read a couple dozen pages and magically be an expert on a topic, but you will be better prepared for the next lecture and you’ll gain only more familiarity with the subject. When review and study time come around, you’ll ultimately be better prepared and know your stuff better thanks to the reading. 

Managing Missed Classes: Don't Let Your Grades Suffer

For one reason another, you’ll have to miss class at times—notice the difference between

“miss” and “skip.” Skipping class is voluntarily not going, despite the perhaps hundreds of dollars you’re spending for each educational session. You’ll probably find yourself guilty of that on occasion too, but missing class can happen for all sorts of legitimate reasons: you have an event with one of your extracurricular clubs that day; you had to head home for a few days; you’re sick, which given dorm living’s close quarters, getting sick will inevitably occur.

All’s not lost when you have to miss some classes, and that A should still be within reach. But like all aspects of college life, it’ll take some effort. If you’re going to be away from your school or preoccupied with some club’s event for the day, you know ahead of time you’ll miss class. This gives you the advantage of preparation. During the first week of most classes, your instructor will give you the class syllabus outlining the class-by-class or week-by-week schedule. Don’t lose this handout! With it, you can see exactly what you’ll be missing and do your best to actually pay attention to the textbook reading corresponding to that missed class.

We all know it can be tough teaching yourself form only a textbook, however. So try asking someone in the class if you can borrow his or her notes. Some students take notes continuously as professors speak; others sit back and soak it all in … or daydream. If it’s a class where you don’t have any friends whom you can ask to borrow notes, keep your eye out for students who look like good notetakers. Those students who bring laptops and type up their notes are great candidates; sharing notes is as easy as sending an email … that is unless they were secretly playing computer games the whole time.

Especially with smaller classes, teachers prefer to be notified that you’ll be absent from a class. This shows that hey, you actually care about the class and are politely informing the teacher you’ll be gone—without notification, that teacher might well think you’re skipping out! He or she can give you any handouts and briefly tell you what material you’ll be missing. Since most teachers have open office hours, your teacher might suggest you stop by to catch up on what you missed. All of this takes a little extra time and effort, and yes, it’s easier to just not show up for a couple classes and pretend it never happened. But it’s that little bit of extra effort that will keep you on top of the material and give you a better impression with your teacher—grade-wise, it’ll pay off.

Just how much or how little catching up you’ll have to do will depend on what that trusted syllabus says. If you’re going to be gone the class before a big test, you know you’ll have plenty of reading and review to do! Professors frequently hold a review-based class session before an exam, so missing those means more study time later. However, it also means you won’t miss any new material. Either way, professors are apt to change test dates due to all sorts of factors, which is again why it’s important to tell professors you’ll be absent; they can keep you up-to-date on material and on the schedule. Try not to let missing class become a habit, but for when you know you’ll be gone, be prepared. It’s just another easy way to make college living, your grades, and that whole four-year experience that much better.

Living Small And Learning From It

Living in a dorm room while you’re in college means you’ll be living small. The room is small, your closet will be small, and even your dorm bed, while Twin XL size, will still be not very large. But living small isn’t a bad thing by any means. In fact, there’s a lot to be learned from it.

When you’re living small, it means that you’ll have to maximize efficiency. Learning to be efficient, in any regards, can honestly never be a bad thing. One of the challenges of dorm life relates to a simple question: where will you store all those dorm supplies? That answer can vary quite a bit, as you’ll need the right storage supplies to ensure that that dorm room isn’t a mess. It also means that space can’t be wasted, and if you can manage space, you can manage other things too.

It’s really no stretch to say that if you can keep a dorm organized, you can keep other things organized too. Being efficient with your living space means that you’ll be the type to keep syllabi in line too and all those textbooks. After all, you won’t be able to use the excuse that the dog ate your homework while you’re in college! So get in a good habit by keeping your dorm stuff organized. From there, other things will follow, making college life more efficient all around.

While it may be taking a grand view, that little dorm room can act as a microcosm of your college career. Will you be a student who stays organized and gets to class on time while having the reading done and has been diligent not to lose any important handouts? Or, will you be the student who loses the handout the minute you receive it? It’s probably somewhere in that stack of papers that’s mixed with your snacks, shoes, and who knows what else, right? If this sounds like your dorm room, it’s time to make some changes.

Living small also often means appreciating more of what you have. That big closet back home? Gone. A big bead to spread out on? That’ll be swapped for a twin XL bed.  But you’ll realize that, hey, it’s not so bad at all, which is a good realization to come to. Living small means making sacrifices at times, but you’ll see that it’s all that’s needed. It’s also a good lesson to learn, as your college apartment that you live in later on might not be much bigger!

College Will Teach You A Thing Or Two About Email

Email in college is no joke. That’s not to say that it was a joke while you were in high school, but college life also prepares you how to professionally manage an inbox. During high school, you truthfully might not have used email much, as that inbox probably mostly filled up with promotions, giveaways, and the occasional email actually worth opening. In college, that’s not the case.

That inbox of yours can be compared to being a new pet owner, such as a dog owner. What was before a cute animal that you’d occasionally pet and visit now requires full-time energy to maintain, respond to, and necessitates that you stay up late at times to tend to it. Yes, that’s your new college email, and, no, it won’t be cute. While you won’t be flooded with emails like some working professionals, you’ll get you’ll fair share, and more than your fair share of ones worth opening.

All this emailing will be good practice for the real world. While hopefully you already know how to use email, managing your inbox is great practice for life after college. First off, you’ll need to responsibly check your email, which means more than giving it a quick glance once a day like you might do with your personal inbox. From updates from teachers, to messages from group project participants, to, yes, an email from your parents, you can’t use the excuse that you missed an email because you failed to check. That’s so ‘90s.

After all, if you can’t be trusted to be reasonable about checking your email, it’ll be a bad sign if you can’t handle that small responsibility. Fortunately, the task isn’t difficult. Responding, however, can be a bit more of a challenge. You’ve heard that you shouldn’t treat formal emails like text messages, and it’ll be good practice on how to get your message across politely and concisely, which is an underrated skill that college email can teach.

Email can also teach you a thing or two about organization. For the first time in your life, you might be in a situation where you have to find an old email. Have to—as in, your grade depends upon it! Hopefully you’ll quickly find that it’s to your advantage to keep email organized, as a messy inbox will make sifting through old emails a miserable task. Just as a clean dorm room will result in more convenience and less wasted time during college life, the same holds true with your inbox.

And if nothing else, using email will teach you the need to learn to type properly if you’re a two-finger typist. That’s a skill that will be useful for life, and will be something worth learning while in college.