If someone were to visit multiple college campuses throughout the United States, there is a guarantee that there will be some common observations that can be made in the classroom. As a current undergraduate student there are certain habits that I have found to be practically universal amongst my peers (and myself). These habits are visible at any time of the day on any corner of campus, and almost always provoke a negative reaction from individuals outside of the millennial generation. The fact of the matter is that some of these habits are simply a reaction to the stress and anxiety that come with being a full-time college student, but there are others that take place due to one’s transition to being (practically) on their own while avoiding some responsibilities or expectations that come along with that. Each undergraduate student knows what is expected of them, so the choice to perpetuate these habits make it difficult to transition from college into a career field or graduate school. So please, incoming college students, please avoid falling into these habits as much as possible- it will make moving into adulthood a much more smooth transition.

1. Skipping classes

It is inevitable that some days you will wake up and feel like the world is crashing around you, but it most likely isn’t. When you feel that you are too tired to get yourself up and dressed for class, go drink a full glass of water while sitting on the edge of your bed. This can break the habit of wanting to roll over and go back to sleep instead of going to class because the water refreshes the mind and body and inevitably will make you need to use the bathroom, causing you to get out of bed anyways! Skipping classes may seem like not a big deal here and there, but there are always attendance policies that can cause you to fail a class, and if you are not going to attend class and learn, then why are you paying to do so?

2. Using technology during class for purposes that do not pertain to class

It happens that almost every class period someone has their phone in their lap or are pretending to take notes on their laptops but instead are on Facebook or some other social media site. When students do this, it may not necessarily be distracting to the students around them, but it is distracting to the professor that is trying to teach who probably feels like they are talking to a wall at that point. It is disrespectful to the professor who has put in their effort (usually) to prepare the lesson for that day and is having the same effect as skipping class: you aren’t going to learn what you need from the class and you are wasting money by paying for something and getting nothing in return.

3. Being a Know-It-All

There’s one in every crowd- the guy or girl that sits in the front row and heckles the professor with so many questions (often hypothetical situations) or shares their opinion or knowledge of their topic to the point that the professor doesn’t have time to teach the full lesson or has nothing else to say after explaining ideas to that particular individual. Don’t get me wrong, it is great to want to participate in class and be involved in discussions, but there is a fine line between participation and overtaking. If you have a long spiel about a particular topic, make time to talk to the professor after class, or meet with them in their office. Don’t force other students to waste their time listening to you the whole class period when they should be learning from the person that (probably) has a masters or doctorate in that field of study. It is frustrating for students that want to learn and can be frustrating for professors that want to have time to complete their lessons. Plain and simple- nobody likes a know-it-all.

4. Only reading what is assigned to you for class

In every career field there will be a ladder to climb and people to impress. In being able to impress someone you must have the ability to communicate effectively and eloquently, whether that is in writing or in speech. But in order to gain these skills the most important thing that one must do is to read. Reading increases our comprehensive abilities, our writing style, our construction of sentences, decreases grammatical errors, and allows us to speak about things that we have read. In college there is an incredible amount of reading that is assigned, and it is practically impossible to read all of it without falling asleep or wanting to rip your hair out, but it is important to do as much of it as possible. While it is important to keep up with your class material readings, it is equally as important to find a way to read more than just class assignments. Even if it is one news article or a short story or poem per day, it prevents the habit of not reading after graduation, which is especially important for most, if not all, academic/intellectual career fields. When a student only reads what they are assigned they lose the desire to learn about other topics through reading, and this can be disastrous for the mind. Reading irrelevant works can help balance the workload by reminding you that there is a life outside of college, and its vastness is immeasurable.

5. Procrastinating

The most common and threatening habit of undergraduate students is procrastination. It began when you forgot about your third-grade science project until the night before, but you still received an ‘A’ on it, so you realized you could probably get away with it. Procrastination will not only cause you an incredible amount of stress, but when you have a 15 page research paper due in a week and you just started the research for it, you are threatening your academic career and in turn threatening your future career. It is tempting to spend as much time as possible doing things that are more important (like binge watching that season of Grey’s Anatomy or Game of Thrones), but when placed in the career field procrastination can lead to missing deadlines, losing jobs, and eventually homelessness. None of us want that. When you receive an assignment, make a schedule/timeline, stick to it. It will be worth it in the end.

The mind of a college student can be a rollercoaster, but the habits that are created while in college can affect the way that they live the rest of their lives. Although these 5 habits may not seem like a big deal when you are reading this (probably on Facebook during class), you are going to look up and see your professor staring at you and then assigning an extra 50 pages of reading for tonight. Think about it.