The years you spend in college are a time for self discovery and sometimes, we get too engulfed in academics and forget about everything else the college experience provides.
This is not your usual college bucket list:
1. Get Involved on campus
Whether it's with a student organization on campus or a volunteer opportunity, taking part in any form of on-campus involvement is a great means of self- discovery. You don't want to leave college without taking advantage of the various possibilities to connect with your school and local community as much as you can. Find something that interests you, organize your schedule to accommodate it, take up a leadership position, excel!
Not to mention, it's a strong resume builder!
2. Explore your city
And this is very important!
The city you go to school, whether it's your hometown or not, has been your home for four years or more and it would be rude not to get to know it beyond the surface. Instead of booking that pocket-draining spring break vacation you've been planning, try just spending the weekend exploring your city. Visit a museum, tour your local attractions, take random street photos, do the most tourist thing you can think of. Sometimes when we get too familiar with environment, we fail to appreciate it's worth. Take a step back and view your city in new light even if it's just for the weekend. Act like you just discovered a magnificent city that is going to be torn down tomorrow. Take it all in and you can thank me later.
Maybe even lodge in a hotel for that weekend to make it a bit more official.
3. Go road tripping with friends
Why not!?
Whether it's a day trip or for the weekend, road trips are always a great getaway. Play car games, make fun stops, drive down to a neighborhood city and take lots of pictures. It doesn't have to planned out down to the details, just grab your friends and go!
4. Go solo
If you haven't experienced the liberation of walking into a nice restaurant and confidently requesting a table for one, or the unapologetic feeling of having the entire theatre room in a cinema to yourself and laughing your hats off as loud and crazy you like, or the uttermost independence in planning a "Me day," just try it.
Totally worth it!
5. Learn a new language
Now, you don't necessarily have to register for a foreign language course and have to pay lots of money for that in tuition. The Internet has made it so much easier to pick up a new language. I started teaching my self Italian and brushing up on my French using an app called Duolingo. I also got this ASL dictionary that helps me learn sign language. There are a bunch of available resources online. It's not as hard as you might think to learn a new language from the basics, all you need is some time and dedication and you could be fluent in just a couple of months. Obviously, you don't have to be perfect immediately, but with a lot of practice, you could get pretty close!
I bet I don't even need to mention how beneficial it will be in the long run, whether you're applying for a job, travelling to a foreign country, or speaking with an international client.
6. Study Abroad
If you have the funds and opportunity necessary, then totally!
There's no greater way to learn than through travel and experience. You get to immerse yourself in a new culture, improve your language skills, gain a level of independence you never knew existed, all while getting your education abroad. When you return back to your home country, with a new perspective of life and a yearning to know more, that you will truly be able to appreciate your new growth in it's full glory.
It's hard to understand how small the world really is until you see it.
7. Pick up a skill
Photography, sewing, writing, crafting, make-up, CPR/ First-Aid, whatever it might be!
It doesn't have to be academically inclined, any extra applicable skills or knowledge will set you apart from your peers. Not to mention, it is certainly an added advantage in a job application.
8. Take advantage of your fitness center
So I'm assuming your campus has a recreational center of some sort, one that you don't have to pay any extra charges for as a student.
Treasure that. Gym memberships can get a bit pricey out there.
Add workout days to your weekly schedule. Say you're not a workout-equipment-person, you could try group exercises, or swimming, or outdoor activities, or healthy meal cooking classes (if that's an option).
Hey, you're paying for it so why not, right?!
9. Take lots of pictures
Of everyone and everything. Just take random snapshots. These memories will last forever!
10. Take a class that is unrelated to your major
If not anything, for that GPA boost!
11. Network, Network, Network!
With friends, colleagues, professors, advisors, in and out of your major, in and out of your university. Just... everyone, okay?!
You don't know who/what you'll need while you're out there in the work field, or who would need you. It always helps to have as many contacts as possible, and keep in touch. We seldom forget that regardless of what major or specialty we fall under, it is good to be well rounded in so it is very important to get to know people from other fields also. They could be possible clients or colleagues, they could know somebody that knows somebody that could be a possible client or colleague, etc etc.
This call comes down to staying in the know while in school, taking us back to item number one on this list: Getting involved on campus.
