One of the best aspects of attending college is that you finally have complete and total control over your area of study and the classes you take. No more timed writings or endless chapter reviews. You can finally master all the parts of the body or learn about Freudian Psychology. But the location and function of the small intestine or lessons on classical conditioning won’t compare to the skills you learn in college that can’t be taught in that giant lecture hall. These are the 10 things you will actually learn in college.
1.Multitasking
To be truly successful, every college student must be a master multitasker. Some nights you will have to write 2 papers, study for the next day’s test, and finish the online homework you forgot about. Not only will you finish everything, you will also have binge watched Netflix, checked social media every 10 minutes, and made 2 trips to the dining hall.
2.Procrastination
Procrastination is a problem that is inevitable as humans, but college students seem to have the biggest troubles with it. Have a paper due next week that you really should work on, but really don’t want too? Don’t worry, you will find yourself doing the weirdest activities to avoid that paper. While doing homework, you will probably have the sudden urge clean every surface in your room, even the ones that aren’t dirty. Or rearrange all of your furniture. No matter the assignment, you’ll have no trouble doing anything and everything to avoid working on it.
3.Napping
College students could also be described as professional nappers. You stay up half the night (finishing that procrastinated homework), so naps are how you catch up on sleep. Breaks between classes that are longer than 15 minutes will be filled with naps, even if you have to take them in a library study room. You might only get 4 hours of sleep every night, but you’ll probably average the same amount of time in naps throughout the day.
4.Making Friends
Making friends in high school is easy. You spend all day everyday with the same people for 8 months out of the year. College, however, is a lot different. You no longer are surrounded by the same people so you have to learn a few social skills and make friends for yourself. As you go through college, you will get better and better at forming new friendships. And by senior year, you’ll be able to make a new friend in the 5-minute Starbucks line.
5.Budgeting Money
College students often don’t have a lot of money. Our bank account balance is usually the only number we want to raise more than our GPA. Because of this, we become experts on making our very little money last as long as possible. Nobody can make $15 stretch like a student in college can.
6.Living With Others
Because college is so expensive, and students are so broke, we usually can’t afford to live by ourselves. This means we have to learn to live with other people. While sometimes it’s hard to keep your cool when the dorm washing machine is occupied for 3 hours, or when the neighbors are up partying until 4 a.m., you will learn to become more patient. Living with other people will also teach you respect and boundaries not easily learned other places.
7.GPA is NOT Everything
High school teaches us that we need to always maintain a high GPA, because without it we will never be successful in life. While a good GPA is important, you also don’t have to give up if yours isn’t the best. Being accepted to a good graduate program, or even starting your career isn’t solely dependent on the number printed on your transcript. Networking and growing strong connections also plays a huge role, along with extracurriculars and experience. College teaches students that we are worth much more than just a number, rather we are a mosaic of our different accomplishments and experiences.
8.Shame is for the Weak
Probably one of the most important lessons that college students will learn is to not be ashamed of who we are. You will discover very fast that most people around you are too busy and caught up in their own lives to pay attention, let alone give a damn about what you do with your life. And even when others are judgmental, you learn not to care anymore because your happiness is more important than what someone else thinks. Along with this, if you happen to fail a test and walk out of class crying, people won’t judge you. They can probably relate to how you’re feeling on an emotional level, so don’t be ashamed of those tears and let the waterworks flow!
9.Parties Aren’t the Only Way to Have Fun
Social media and Hollywood have taught us that parting is the only reason anyone ever attends college. Don’t get me wrong, parties are great and usually a ton of fun. But sometimes all we need is a relaxing movie night with friends, eating our weight in popcorn and frozen pizzas.
10.Independence
While some college students live at home during their time at school, most people move away. This means that we will no longer have our parents to take care of us. We have to make that dreaded phone call to the doctor’s office and make our own appointments. Grocery shopping becomes one of our priorities, and the roof over our head is no longer free. We become so used to providing for ourselves that returning home for the summer is nothing short of a vacation.
People attend college to gain important skills and knowledge that will prepare them for graduate programs or their careers. But a lot of the lessons we actually take away from the experience don’t come from our professors or the classroom. College is the busiest our lives will ever be so we have to learn quickly how to survive it. By the time we have our diploma in our hands, we will have learned much more than that $40,000 piece of paper tells.
