Things I Learned in College

At the Newman Center on campus, they have a Wednesday night event called Time-Out. It's basically a chance for everybody to take some time out (haha, get the name?) each week to just relax and hang out with fellow students. There's usually some good snacks, good conversation, and a bit of prayer. Last week the campus minister contacted some graduating seniors to see if we'd be the speakers at the last Time-Out of the year. What did she want us to say? Nothing too demanding...just some words of wisdom that we wish we'd heard earlier in our college careers. This prompted a complete blank. What did I know? What would be relevant for other people? So I sat down and just started writing...and after dinner with some friends from the dorm I felt I had a few things that would be valuable to share. Here's what I came up with:

Things I Learned in College (mostly having nothing to do with actual school)

- While good roommates make good friends and good memories, bad roommates make for the best stories...and they sure make life interesting.

- While studying is extremely important (it is after all your job here) going out makes college more fun. This doesn't mean drinking, necessarily. Some of the greatest times just come from being drunk on life (random river trips...for example).

- Diversity your friendships. Making friends in your department not only makes classes & studying easier and more fun, but it's networking for your future career. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, though...because sometimes you need to completely forget about work.

- Get involved in research...it looks great on applications, you get to know faculty (more importantly, they get to know you), and you become more familiar with the real workings in your field. You can sometimes get free stuff, too!

- Staying close with family keeps you sane & are always a great support system.

- Take some classes just for fun. Getting done early looks impressive...but if you're stressed out the whole time, what's the fun in that?!

- Internships -> they help you get jobs, scholarships, fellowships, etc.

- Apply for anything. You never know if you're what they're looking for and you can usually re-use essays - so they're not much work.

- Keep in touch with old friends. Those stupid moments from the dorm may come back to haunt you...but you'll also cry from laughing so hard.

- Enjoy the town you live in outside of the campus. There's always unique things about the town that make life there more fun than just doing classwork.

- Get to know your advisor ASAP. It can save you lots of time taking the wrong classes and they can be a valuable networking asset.

- Don't worry if you change your major. God has a plan - and you're where you're supposed to be. My friend started out as a Fisheries & Wildlife major but changed to nursing. She wondered if she'd wasted her time taking the wrong classes...but then realized she never would've met me or her fiance if she hadn't started out where she did.

- "Don't count crayons. Just draw pictures." This is a quote from Mark 'Shake'n'Bake' Scharenbroich (http://www.buildingconnections.com/), a motivational speaker I saw in high school. Basically, he talks about how when you're little you go about drawing you pictures without a care of what other are doing. You get to a point, though, where you get upset that little Bobby sitting next to you has that awesome 64 count box with colors like Mac'n'cheese and Burnt Sienna...and all you've got is that plain box of 8 colors. But you don't realize that you may be a better drawer than Bobby, so even though you have fewer crayons you can do more with what little you have. So focus on what you can do and not on what others may have.

And one another graduate brought up that really hit home with me:
- Embrace the lack of permanence in your life here. Really spend your time wisely because you know you'll only be here so long. (This one is great to remember for life, as well.)