Top Five Ways to Survive College

Are you excited for your first day of school as a college freshman yet don’t know what to do, afraid that you might not survive it? Still want to continue being one of the top students until college yet don’t have any ideas how? Are you in your fourth year in college and you feel like you are going to fail a subject that will cause you not to march on March?

Don’t fret! Why? Because I asked a few fresh graduates and adults to give a few tips or ways on how to survive college! And here is what they say.

One of the ways to survive college is to set your priorities. And by setting your priorities, it means knowing your limitations. School work first before parties (ehem)! Try to avoid having intimate relationship with boys or girls. “I mean, love life, admit it, you don’t have the mood to study whenever you’re having problems with you boyfriend or girlfriend,” an interviewee said. But if you can balance your studies and your love life, then it is a different story. It is also about weighing and organizing things like what homework should you do first, or if you should go shopping tomorrow because it is the end of season sale. Should you start reviewing for you exam next week? Again, it is all about setting your priorities.

Another way to survive college is to be responsible. “Responsibility is a huge aspect in college,” says another interviewee. “It is that time where you weigh the pros and cons of a decision. Like, there’s this party tonight and an exam tomorrow. If you think you can go to the party and not fail your exam, you are being responsible. But if you went to the party and failed the exam, then that’s the consequence of your irresponsibility,” she added.

“Being responsible concerns establishing a study habit. Even at home”, says another fresh graduate. Make sure you take down notes when the professor is lecturing so you can go through them when you get home. Responsibility is also making sure that you do advance reading of topics to be discussed and it is also about asking questions if something is unclear to you.

Next is to have focus. “There would be times when it is hard to stay focused. But once you’ve psyched up yourself and your determination to finish something then something good is waiting for you,” says Miss Be Responsible. Well, isn’t it obvious? How will you pass your long test if you keep on daydreaming about your crush or your future with your boyfriend/girlfriend? “Begin with the most important things,” as what a guy from Ateneo said. Focus on your goals and your studies first.

Here we go to the fourth way to survive college: time management. Yup, that’s right. You have to have time for your studies, only your studies. NO FACEBOOK! NO TWITTER! NO BLOGGING OR TEXTING! No anything that might distract you from studying. Calculate the optimal time for each activity and set limits. “Not having any limits may lead to an unwise use of time since we might overspend time over something trivial or vice versa,” Ateneo guy says. Oh, anddon’t forget to do your homework and projects in advance! You wouldn’t want to cram in college, believe me. (But on a second thought, you could make some time for your social networking sites so you wouldn’t feel left out.)

We’re down to the last way to survive college: study hard. You have heard it a billion times or more but trust me, it’s true. No matter what the subject and whether you dislike it or not, some things need perseverance. Miss Be Responsible remembered one time when she was about to fail her Quantitative Management subject. She had to pass 99% of the exam. “I studied hard and hello uno! Masaya na ako na naka-uno ako,” she said. (In her school, 1 is the lowest grade and 5 is the highest. 1 is better than an F, right?

An additional tip from Miss Be Responsible is to take college seriously, but still have fun along the way. “College will be the last time you could have fun. Literally. Take it from a working girl like me,” she added. Miss Nursing, who obviously took up Bachelor of Science in Nursing, said “Repetition is the key to understanding. Take note of that”.

In the end , it doesn’t matter which of these you would choose as your top way to survive college. As long as you know and practice all of these, you will surely be a survivor. Who knows, maybe one day. you’ll be able to look in front of the mirror and tell yourself that you’ve done a great job back in college!

(Photo not mine)

P.S. I have survived college and you will, too! Enjoy the journey, love, because the day after you tossed the graduation cap and moved the tassel to the right is the start of your life in the real world. It is the first day of the rest of your life.