4 Tips for New College Students: What I Wish I Knew

Posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2014

It’s that time again! The first week of the new academic year is in full swing. As a former student, I thought I might impart some useful tips that I wish I knew when I started out in school. 1. Do the best you can. Not everyone is destined to graduate college with a perfect 4.0 GPA. So what? The best advice I can give is to truly do your best and have no regrets after. Albert Einstein said “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Don’t be too hard on yourself. Just do your best and trust that the dots will connect. We also have many Student Support Services here on campus to help you out. 2. Roll with the right crew. You’re going to meet a wide variety of people in college. It can be quite a shock at first, but I think that surrounding yourself with the right people is key to enjoying your life at college. Try to associate yourself with people of similar values and interests, people who want to see you succeed. You’ll never meet them unless you go out and talk to people. Our Pembroke Student Association has a number of clubs, teams and activities to take advantage of. Join a club that interests you, try out as many things as you can to find out what excites you both personally and professionally. 3. Get the most of college. In college, you will have the opportunity to have experiences you wouldn’t have otherwise. These experiences, good and bad, will shape your character and if you’re really lucky, you’ll find your purpose in life or what makes you truly happy. So go ahead find your passion, fall in love, start a company, learn who you are – this College is your oyster! 4. Don’t ever give up. Realize and accept the fact that there are going to be times in your college life where you will be stressed out. Push through and you’ll see that it gets better quickly. As my main man Rocky Balboa once said, “It ain’t about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep movin’ forward, how much you can take…and keep movin’ forward. That’s how winning is done!” College can be as good or bad as you make it. This is one of the best times of anyone’s life- a time where you mould your character and become the person you’re going to be for the rest of your life. No regrets!

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” –Steve Jobs

What are some of the things you wish you knew while in school? Or what tips do you have? Posted by: Jodi Bucholtz, Here 2 Help team member!

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