I cannot imagine the impactful feeling of graduating. I will not be this spring, but seeing all my friends nearly graduating this year, and being only a year away from graduating myself, made me realize a lot about my years in college that seem to have flown by, and are almost over.
Graduating seniors should cherish all the important lessons they have learned, whether by classes, or their growth and mistakes. Possibly just as important, they should leave a part of them behind -- their poor student habits that obstructed them from being the best student they could be.
It's not always easy to become completely real-world prepared in every way, shape, and form. Quite a few people may be graduating with some leftover poor college habits they still have and are unaware of, that will make living on their own more challenging. Below are poor college habits all graduates should make sure they don't leave with.
Being late
I always recall my mom telling me an important story about one of her first small careers in an office; every day she would come in a few minutes before she was supposed to, which her boss deemed unacceptable and told her she needed to come earlier. One day, she unluckily got into traffic, which made her a measly ten minutes late. Normally this small amount of time would not be much of a problem and was a first-time demeanor, but her boss did not overlook it to any degree and fired her.
Some professors are pretty lenient about tardiness, but I think all of them should actually reinforce how important it is to get in the habit of arriving early. For some jobs, even arriving exactly on time isn’t acceptable. I wish college taught us this habit, but in reality, we need to teach ourselves to arrive on time.
Procrastinating
Every college student at some point heard "Due by this date," and it instead processed in their head as "do that date." It happens; not everyone is easily able to find the motivation to start every task right away, but we need to adjust ourselves before going into real jobs where we cannot risk putting even the smallest things off. In college, we may get warnings and "zeros," that may or may not drastically alter our grades, but in jobs there are rarely warnings and the penalties for putting something off are much more severe.
Having our priorities in the wrong place
Procrastination can sometimes be a byproduct of getting distracted with going out and having fun. We do need to give up spending time with friends for work, and more so the older we get. If we get too optimistic and start adhering to an “I'll just do my work later” mindset, we are setting ourselves up for disaster in the future. If we teach ourselves to give up what can wait for us for things that can't, even to a small degree, we may find ourselves being able to enjoy more free time. It's normal to have to opt out on fun opportunities every once in a while, but on the flip-side, the less free time we have, the more valuable our free time is. Having fun is always better when you don’t feel guilt tripped from having work you should be doing instead.
Putting others before yourself *too* often
It’s great to put others before yourself sometimes, but there is a point where we can get carried away in doing so and forget to focus on and take care of ourselves in the process. Sometimes we have to be selfish and prioritize our life. In the real world, we will all most likely face this challenge many times, but at the end of the day, we have to do what’s best for us. In the real world, it's different because we will have bosses, but use a degree of selfishness in the real world to overcome unethical factors. In other words, don't let yourself be overworked or treated unfairly.
Making excuses
I have had more than enough Professors remind students that they will not accept any excuses other than a Doctor’s note.
We all make mistakes, but there are some bosses that will not accept any excuses. There are no warnings, or “don’t miss class again,” in the real world. If anyone adapts to skipping class every once in a while every semester, now is the time to get into the habit of going to every class. Making excuses will train yourself to think when we mess up its okay. We will start to learn when not to mess up when we can admit to people and ourselves that we can't make excuses anymore.
Expecting everything to go our way
None of us can predict what will happen. We all graduate as the same person, all looking for a job and going out into the real world on our own. We should have high hopes after graduating, but without being too optimistic and not being prepared to work hard enough to find success,
Even some of the most successful people such as J.K. Rowling, Oprah, and Abraham Lincoln, failed miserably before landing positions that greatly surpassed the smaller positions they intended to be. We have to accept that life is unpredictable, and rather than thinking too much into the life we expect, we should think about what we can do to make it happen.
Budgeting poorly
A lot of students spend much more than they think on wants, rather than needs -- especially on the weekends. It's okay to go to the bar every now and then, but if you don't feel as though you have a good sense of saving and using money wisely before graduation, it's time to focus on that as soon as possible. It's one thing to have fun, but it's another to lose track of the value of money in the process of over-spending.
Finally, it is crucial to keep your motivation and everything you've learned in college, whether by people, classes, mistakes, or your potential. A lot of people graduate thinking they're done and free, but it's only just begun. Life might be harder, but you have to be ready for that and feel ready to go out into the world, building the skills you've obtained from college even more.
Congratulations to everyone graduating this year!
