College life is a whole new world filled with romance, happiness, adventure and maybe even a little bit of depression. What you encounter in this new chapter won’t be the same as others. Although you might learn the same life lessons as your peers, the learning experience would be utterly different. For this reason, we have come up with 5 tips to prepare you for this upcoming adventure.
At first glance, college life can look like a picture out of a movie – bright, exciting and breathtaking. However, after a few hours you may characterize it as fast-paced, and a little crazy. Especially if you are visiting from out of town, finding your bearings on the first day back to school would only end in confusion and panic. Therefore, a good tip to prepare for college is to visit your dorm room, or your classrooms at least a week in advance.
College’s are usually open every day of the year except for holidays, so you should be fine gaining entry into the school. By doing so, you will know how to get to your classes and where to go so you won’t be confused or late on your first day. We also suggest looking at alternative routes from each class, just in case one is blocked or busy!
College life will most likely be your last chapter of education, and life of freedom before you hit the corporate world. Professors only have 12 weeks to teach you a whole subject and they are not going to waste any time. For this reason, you will find yourself completing many weekly assignments and readings starting your first week. If you do not know how you study, you will find yourself struggling.
Therefore, a good tip for preparing for college is acknowledging what tools and materials help you study. For example, do you prefer to type your notes or write them in a notebook? Do you prefer to listen to a lecture and copy notes later, or them simultaneously? Are you an early bird or a night owl? These are simply a few questions you should ask yourself!
Transportation could possibly be the #1 obstacle in every student’s college life, especially if you live in a city that gets snow. Huge metropolitan cities such as Toronto, New York, and Vancouver have so many people with so little transportation. A 30-minute drive on Google is more like 1 hour in real-time. That’s on a nice summer day. In the winter, you can multiply that number by three. Therefore, the most helpful tip we can provide is to never trust public transit.
Always expect there will be delays or cancellations. In order to ensure you are not late for an exam or class, take at least 2 trains prior to the one you take every day. This way if one train is having problems, you can still catch the next two trains before you are late. If you are driving, leave 30 minutes to an hour earlier than you usually do.
This college life tip is for purchasing cheaper textbooks. Before you begin buying your textbooks, look at used textbook facebook pages for your school and/or program. A lot of students tend to resell their textbooks for a lower price than the campus store after they have used them. Not only will you be saving money, but students might also lend you their notes or give you helpful tips about the class as well!
The last college life tip we have has more to do with the types of people you will meet in college. You will meet a range of students that might not be that different from those you met in high school. However, the main difference is that you will have a lot more freedom than you did back then. Your relationships and friendships might be tested, as well as a few of your morals and values.
These might lead to feeling stressed and intimidated. The easiest way to fight these challenges is to remember who you are, where you come from and what you believe in. These are life lessons that we all have to learn. Simply remember it is not personal, it is just a part of life.
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