The main goal of college is to gain knowledge in the specific occupation that you want to go into. You take all of the required classes and within about four years, you should know everything there is to know about that career; but in all reality, there is always more to learn. However, college does a lot more than just prepare you for your profession, it teaches you many life lessons and it helps you discover who you really are.
"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." -Mark Twain
1. How to be independent
You move out on your own for the first time in your life and it terrifies you, but once you get used to it then you learn how strong you can be on your own. You learn to take care of yourself and how to be self-sufficient. If college doesn't teach you how to be independent, nothing will.
"People aren't always going to be there for you, that's why you learn to handle things on your own." -Anonymous
2. How to multi-task
More often than not, you will be working on more than one assignment at once. This teaches you how to switch gears at the drop of a hat. Don't be surprised if sometimes you are eating dinner, working on homework, hanging out with friends, doing laundry, and watching Netflix all at once.Sometimes though, you have to do one thing at a time in order to get the best results.
"Do less with more focus." -Anonymous
3. How to be organized & get your work done
You will most likely have a constant to-do list that never runs out of stuff. You cross one thing off just to add another. Sometimes you have to skip the trip to Target or to dinner in order to complete your work and you need to realize that perfectly fine. Target will still be there when you're finished but you'll have to find something to eat eventually.
"It always seems impossible until it's done." -Nelson Mandela
4. How to make your last $20 go a long way...or not
You can either make twenty bucks last a whole week or you blow it within five seconds, there's no in between.
"Poor (adjective) : when you have too much month at the end of your money" -Anonymous
5. Naps are beyond necessary
No matter if you got a good eight hours in after class, all you're going to want to do is take a nap; but let's be real, getting a full eight hours of sleep in college is highly unlikely. You may need to take a nap in order to avoid a mental breakdown at one point or another, just accept it.
"I already want to take a nap tomorrow." -Anonymous
6. Sometimes you have to skip a class in order to get work done for a different class
This will happen on multiple occasions. You will have so much work that is impossible to get done if you gave up two hours to go to class. So, sometimes you actually are better off just skipping. Although, it could both help and hurt you either way.
"The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule but to schedule your priorities." -Stephen Covey
7. You may need to pull clothes out of the dirty laundry
You'll be so busy with school and everything else that has to do with college that your laundry basket will begin to look like Mt. Everest. So, pull those jeans out and shake them a little and you're good to go. Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures right?
"Do what you gotta do so you can do what you wanna do." -Denzel Washington
8. Who your real friends are
Sometimes the people you are so close with in high school never speak to you again once you both go off to college and that is totally normal. You meet your real friends in college who show you what real friendship is. So, don't be upset for too long over the people who were only friends with you because they felt like they had to be.
"We don't lose friends, we just learn who the real ones are." -Anonymous
9. Motivation
You learn how to motivate yourself in times when all you want to do is sleep or watch Netflix. The last thing you're going to want to do is write that paper but you know you have to because your GPA depends on it. Unfortunately, there will always be things you have to do, but no part of you wants to do it; that's life.
"Push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you." -Anonymous
10. You're never alone
Most of us college students have no idea what the heck is going on most of the time. That's for in classes as well as in our personal lives. We just kind of go with the flow and the routine of classes and hope to God that eventually we get a degree. So if you ever feel like you're the only one who is struggling or confused, know you are not alone.
"Someday, everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason." -Anonymous
11. Who I really am and how to be myself
This is the most important thing I've learned so far. I am NOT the same person I was before college. I was shy, reserved and never really stepped out of my comfort zone, but that all changed once I came to college. I'm no where near as shy, I'm not afraid to voice my own opinion and I'm not stuck constantly doing what is comfortable. I'm a firm believer in the theory that you don't really know who you are until you go to college. You are more independent, so you don't have others altering your: views, opinions, or decisions; and you can finally do what you truly feel is right without worrying what others will think. High school is so judgmental and many people think they have to conform to a certain ideology in order to "fit in." College taught me that by being myself, I am a much happier person and that the opinions of others are completely irrelevant.
"Just be yourself. Let people see the real, imperfect, flawed, quirky, weird, beautiful, magical person that you are." -Mandy Hale
