It is that time of the year when everyone is busy photocopying notes, pulling all-nighters to settle a decent score in internals and getting submissions done just before the deadline. From easy-going days, it looks like college has suddenly transcended into a war zone- clearly, the honeymoon period is over. The semester flew away way too fast and while I’m still trying to grasp how that can be, I have to admit that I find myself wiser than I was a few months back. I’ve learned a few hacks which I wish someone would have told me before.
Here are 10 tips I learned by the end of the first semester, that can make college easier.
- Maintain your finances– With College comes independence and with that comes responsibility which includes finance management. It may seem harmless to spend 30-40 bucks here and there on multiple kiosks dotted around the campus, but these seemingly small spendings will turn you into a broke while you will be cluelessly wondering where all your money went. Hopefully, the demonetarization scheme is making you a better budgeter.
- Prioritize- With too much going around, it’s important that you prioritize your life. Whether it is society rehearsals, assignments or socializing with friends, make sure one thing isn’t eating up all your time.
- Wear whatever you want- If you want to get all dressed up or simply want to live in sweatpants, it doesn’t matter. You can do whatever you want.
- Participate and involve yourself– College is about thriving and not merely surviving, so participate and get involved in different sorts of events, public meetings, festivals, seminars and sign up for internships and volunteer. Sometimes you’ll be successful and sometimes you’ll end up making a fool out of yourself, but ultimately you’ll gain experience and that counts.
- Swear by these essentials-
– Always keep your Metro card recharged.
– Don’t forget the headphones or else the 20-minute metro ride will feel like an eternity.
– Deodorant is very important. You don’t want to be that smelly kid.
- Be friends with the Class Representative– If you want to request your professor to change the extra class timings or want the notes that the teacher floated to be photocopied first, the friendship with dear old CR will come handy. Besides, if you are a busy person and don’t happen to attend classes regularly then the CR will be the most reliable person to update you about the classwork.
- Use the college resources- Make the best use of libraries, online database, computers, scanning and printing facilities, bus pass, massive open online course (MOOC’s) and of-cause the Wi-Fi. You will be surprised to know how much you can avail for free!
- Go to college no matter what- We may convince ourselves that by missing one day we will catch up on all the reading and complete the pending work. However, going by my experience I can tell that it’s not going to happen, so it’s better you attend the college and at least get the attendance.
- Lean to function alone– Okay so college is mostly about friends and togetherness, but sometimes you have to ride solo, so be prepared. It shouldn’t bother you to sit by yourself in the cafeteria or attend some seminar alone. Being alone doesn’t mean being lonely and you must learn to enjoy your own company.
- Sit back and relax- It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the negativity, sheer boredom or workload in college. You may feel that you’re not good enough. In that situation, it’s important that you sit back and relax before all the stress gets on your nerves.
Niharika Dabral