Categories: College Life

5 Real World Lessons You’ll Learn in College

Your time in college will teach you a lot of real world lessons. A lot of the times people tend to reveal their true colors the older they get and the more they are involved in stressful situations. You need to understand loyalty and know where your friends all stand. There will be many friends you make in college and dozens of acquaintances, but your real friends that will have your back no matter what will be counted on one hand. You need to respect yourself enough to surround yourself with the friends that value your trust and loyalty and return it back to you. Sometimes you won’t know who a true friend is until very late into college and that’s okay. Sometimes a true friend won’t even come into your life until the end of college or even after. Everything you put into a friendship must be given back as well.

A lot of people enter college believing that their high school reputation will remain. You need to remember that you are now entering the real world and you are about to learn real world lessons. If you were a big shot in your high school, you will not be a big shot in college. Enter your university with respect and an open mind. You are going to be surrounded by people who will treat you like an adult. Once you’re in college you are no longer a kid, and no one is going to treat you like one nor will they let you off easily. Do not allow yourself to hit the height of your growth in high school before calling it quits. College is a time to grow and learn new things. You will find new things you like and might even make friends out of people you would not have been friends with in high school. Different environments lead to different outcomes. Don’t change who you are as a person but change the way you perceive others and yourself. Have an open mind and you’ll see how different the world is going to look.

Sacrificing is one of the most important real world lessons you’ll learn in college. In high school you get it very easily. You are able to push homework aside to the very last minute and spend your weekends however you like and get away with it. College will not be so kind to you if you continue this lifestyle. Professors will not care how many other classes you have and will bombard you with assignments that will not have any extensions. There are going to be a lot of things you will need to sacrifice in order to succeed in college. The job market is only getting more and more competitive by the day so having a degree and even internships is crucial in securing a job out of college. Focus on your education and sacrifice a few nights of partying to get your work done. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to go out and have fun, but you need to know when your education comes first. The older you get you will only need to sacrifice more so learning that early on in college is a great way to start your transition into adulthood.

A lot of the times, people get very privileged when they are young and don’t get told no often. One of the most painful real world lessons you will learn in college is that you will not always get what you want. You need to prepare yourself for multiple outcomes of any big chances you are taking. Whether it’s a job opportunity or a class you are trying to get into or even just a date, you will not always get what you want. Rejection is part of life and its perfectly normal. Everyone has been rejected from something at one point or another. You don’t need to freak out over it and it’s certainly not the end of the world. There will always be an alternative to you getting told no. Maybe the job wasn’t the right one for you. Maybe you weren’t meant to go out with that specific person. Just know that you need to keep moving forward. You cannot let it get to your head. In time things will begin to fall into place for you as long as you are putting in the work to get there. Don’t let rejection beat you. Use it to better yourself and keep moving forward.

Independence is something that a lot of people struggle with when they get to college. High schools don’t teach their students how to do everyday tasks on their own. If you go away from your parents for college then you need to learn how to be able to do things on your own. Things such as laundry and dishes believe it or not are things that a lot of college students struggle with doing. Learning how to balance your money and save up is another very importing thing to know. Having a little part time job during college will teach you how to manage your money better. You don’t realize how fast money flies out your bank account until you’re managing it yourself. It’s okay to still ask your parents or guardians for help, that’s what they are there for. Just slowly begin to learn how to do things for yourself or have someone teach you so you can learn. You will also build a lot of character once you begin to rely on yourself for a lot of these tasks. You will slowly see how being independent is making you grow as a person. Being independent is one of the most important real world lessons you could learn.