I
begin to
wonder, as
this
four-year
slumber
party we
call
college
comes to
an end,
how my
time in
this place
has really
carved the
way for my
future. I
am
reminded
that in a
few short
weeks, I
will
experience
"last-call"
on this
unforgettable
party, and
an
invitation
to… queue
the
dramatic
doom
music… the
REAL
WORLD. And
while in
the pit of
my
stomach, I
feel like
a guppy
thrown to
the
sharks,
ready for
a rude
awakening
in the
face of
unemployment,
a lifetime
of debt,
and the
realization
that the
luxury of
naptime
will soon
cease to
exist, I
can not
help but
feel a
certain
comfort in
knowing
that my
time as a
college
student
has not
only
prepared
me
scholastically,
but
mentally
and
socially.
What I
intend to
say is
that, in
my
experience,
college
life is
invaluable.
The
friends
you make,
the
successes
you
achieve,
the
failures
you learn
from, and
the
lessons
you
acquire
through
the
passage of
time will
stay with
you always
as you
move on
and grow
up. With
that said,
it is my
ambition
to impart
some of
the
fortunate
wisdom I
have
adopted
over the
years as a
product of
college
life.
These are
my life
lessons
from a
college
student…
Make
Lists..
I've
learned
that the
most
efficient
way to
manage
your daily
stresses,
is to make
a list.
Not just a
list. Lots
of lists.
In fact,
lists of
lists.
I've made
"to do"
lists that
include
lists I
must
remember
to make.
Neurotic?
Maybe. But
I have
learned,
and I am
sure that
many of my
college
colleagues
would
agree,
that you
will never
get
anything
done
unless you
make a
list. If
you need
to
procrastinate,
and God
knows we
spend more
time
procrastinating
than
actually
being
productive,
then make
a list.
Because
nothing
feels
better
than
crossing
off
something
on a list.
I truly
believe
that if
more
people
worried
less and
listed
more, the
world
would be a
less
stressful
and more
productive
place.
Take Naps.
Perhaps
this seems
elementary
and even
hilariously
impractical
in today's
working
world.
When
business
calls,
family
issues
loom
ever-present,
and you
still
haven't
made time
for that
new years'
resolution
in which
you swore
to work
out at
least 3
times
weekly,
time for a
nap just
wouldn't
make the
cut. I
understand
this.
However,
college
life has a
way of
taking its
toll on
even the
most
ambitious
and
responsible
of us.
Naps are
sweet
little
energy-boosters
that can,
ironically,
save time
rather
than waste
it. While
the world
sees a
stereotype
of lazy
college
kids
sleeping
until all
hours of
the day
and in
between
classes, I
see a
generation
of wise
geniuses,
ahead of
their
time, in
knowing
that every
day must
be taken
in stride,
and that a
nap is
just the
cure to
the
oblivious
rush
through
life.
Take
pictures.
You may
not always
remember
that you
got an
awful test
grade in
American
Literature
your
spring
semester
of junior
year, but
you
certainly
will
remember
how funny
it was
when you
went to
the bar
the night
before and
sang
karaoke to
the music
of "Glory
Days" with
a random
girl from
your Bio
class.
These are
the times
you'll
want to
remember,
because
this is
the stuff
of life.
Pictures
remind us
of the
people we
are and
the great
friends we
have.
Without
them, we
forget all
too easily
that life
is more
than work
and money;
it's about
good times
with good
people,
and
remembering
the fun
we've had.
So take
pictures -
lots of
pictures -
and make
the
memories
that mean
something
last
forever.
Clean your
mess. Dorm
life is
what
humbles
every
college
individual
into
valuing
the
preciousness
of space
and time.
Every
dorm-goer
must
experience
his/her
share of
frustrating
roommate
hassles
and
inconsiderations.
By sharing
what might
be
considered
exceptionally
small
living
spaces
with
strangers
and
friends
from year
to year, I
have
learned
that
cooperation
and
consideration
is
absolutely,
unequivocally,
undoubtedly
the key to
sanity. It
doesn't
matter if
you don't
want to
wash your
dishes
until the
morning…
do it
anyway. It
doesn't
matter if
you want
to leave
your
personal
items all
over the
bathroom
sink,
don't do
it anyway.
People
expect
respect -
respect
for their
space,
respect
for their
time,
respect
for their
sanity.
You'll
never keep
sane in
this world
if you
don't
realize
early on
that all
you have
to do to
get along
is clean
your mess.
Call your
Mom. You
may have
never
liked to
admit it
when you
were a
teenager,
but Mom's
got the
answers to
most of
the things
in life
you can't
handle on
your own.
It doesn't
matter how
old you
are,
sometimes
you need
to feel
like
someone
else can
sort
things out
for you,
and
believe
me, if
anyone
can, it's
your Mom.
Let her do
the things
she wants
to do… let
her
sanitize
your new
apartment
cabinets
before you
unpack the
dishes,
even if
you think
its
already
clean; let
her send
you off
with extra
food to
take home,
even if
you think
u won't
eat it;
let her
talk about
her
experience
and her
opinions
and give
you advice
on
relationships,
even if
you think
you don't
need it…
because
you do.
Listen to
the things
she says
and don't
take them
for
granted.
Above all,
when
things
seem too
hard, too
scary, too
much,… be
sure to
call your
Mom.
Eat
healthy.
While I
cannot
deny that
I am a
tremendous
advocate
and great
lover of
food, I
have found
that there
is nothing
as
self-torturous
as the
Freshman
Fifteen.
This
pertains
more so to
females
than to
males, but
I have
indeed,
seen both
sexes fall
to the
depths of
beer
belly-ism,
and
survival
merely on
diets of
pizza and
Doritos.
While your
new found
freedom
has
trained
you to eat
whatever
you want
whenever
you want,
any
college
student
will tell
you that
kicking
the habit
before
springtime
rolls
around is
essential
to fitting
back into
what you
will now
refer to
as your
"skinny
jeans" (aka
the jeans
you wore
when you
were in
high
school).
And even
after
college
graduation,
you will
pine for
the days
when you
could
slide
those
jeans over
your
thighs
without
having to
use your
yoga moves
and a set
of pliers.
So eat
breakfast
like a
king,
lunch like
a queen,
dinner
like a
pauper,
and never
lose faith
that one
day you'll
wear those
skinny
jeans
again with
pride.
Laugh at
yourself.
Every
student
walks into
the wrong
classroom
at least
once
during
their
first
year.
Every one
of us has
dropped
our food
in the
dining
facility,
or fallen
out of our
chair in
class, or
been
called on
by a
professor
when we
were not
paying
attention.
Every one
of us has
been
caught in
a fire
drill
during a
shower, or
been
spotted
walking
down the
hall in
our bright
green
alien
pajamas,
or been
caught
singing in
our sleep.
Embarrassing
moments
like these
happen to
everyone
everywhere,
and if we
take them
too
seriously,
we'll
never live
them down.
I've
learned
that the
only way
to walk
around
with my
head up
after
tripping
headfirst
into the
pavement
during the
rush of
students
on their
way to
class is
to laugh
at myself.
Your
embarrassing
moment
will only
last as
long as it
takes for
someone
else to do
something
as equally
stupid, so
why not
just let
it go and
laugh it
up.
Ask
questions.
If you
don't ask,
you'll
never
know. The
greatest
thing I
could have
learned
from my
professors
is that
people
like to
talk. They
like to be
understood
and
acknowledged.
It never
hurts to
ask
questions
no matter
how
juvenile
or
simple-minded
you think
they are.
The more
you ask,
the more
you know.
And if I
dare to be
genuinely
profound,
and
without
sarcasm,
in this
single
life
lesson
from a
college
student, I
wish to
emphasize
the power
of asking
questions.
When we
were
young, all
we wanted
to know
was "why?"
I've
learned
that now,
more than
ever, it
is
important
to keep
asking
"why?" -
to wonder
about
things, to
search for
answers -
to never,
EVER, stop
asking
questions.
Spend
Money.
This may
sound
funny
coming
from a
poor
college
kid. I
just
recently
sat down
with the
financial
office to
confer on
the
thousands
of dollars
I owe to
my lenders
for
educational
loans. But
there is a
difference
between
saving
money and
being
cheap.
Every
college
kid knows
what it's
like to
spend your
summer
working
trillions
of hours
serving
tables or
filing
papers.
It's an
experience
that
everyone
should
have. I
never
appreciated
my
education
before I
started
working
summer
jobs and
realized
that I had
better do
well in
school if
I didn't
want to be
stuck
taking
orders
from
short-tempered
clients or
answering
phones for
the rest
of my
life. I
appreciate
every cent
that I
have, but
that
doesn't
mean I
don't
appreciate
it even
more when
I can take
a good
friend out
to dinner
or buy a
nice dress
for a big
dance.
Sure, it
would be
nice to
have all
the money
in the
world and
spend what
I want and
not have
to worry.
But that's
not life,
and living
in college
has taught
me that
there's
more to
work for
than a
paycheck…
there's
pride,
achievement,
and
personal
respect.
So work
hard, do
what you
love, but
remember
that it's
not always
about the
money… and
spend!
Choose
your
friends.
As I
mentioned
in my
preamble
to these
life
lessons,
college is
like one
big
sleepover.
Sure, you
have lots
of
responsibilities:
homework
and tests
and campus
jobs and
internships
and due
dates and
presentations
and career
searches
and on and
on and on…
BUT, you
get
through it
because of
the people
you
surround
yourself
with. I'm
not just
talking
about your
classmates
or the
girl you
got stuck
living
with
freshman
year. I'm
talking
about the
people who
treat you
like
family
while
you're
away from
home,
because
over the
years,
they have
become
like a
second
family to
you. I'm
talking
about the
friends
that put
on a song
and dance
when
you're
having a
bad day
just to
cheer you
up, the
friends
that sit
by and
tell you
you're
better off
without
whoever it
was that
broke your
heart, the
friends
that share
everything
with you
and act as
if
whatever
they have
is yours
for the
taking
because
they know
you feel
just the
same way
about
them, the
friends
who aren't
afraid to
say "I'm
sorry" or
'I "was
wrong"
because
they know
you'll
forgive
them and
who are
just as
quick to
forgive
and
forget;
the
friends
who make
your
birthdays
unforgettable,
your
weekends
worthwhile,
and your
graduation
all the
more
unbearable
because
you never
really
imagined
there'd
come a day
when you
wouldn't
always
have them
around.
Not every
person you
meet in
college
will be
your
friend. In
fact,
there are
many that
you will
call your
friends,
only to
find out
later that
they are
not the
people you
thought
they were.
College
life has
taught me
that your
time is
too short
to waste
on people
who make
you
miserable.
In college
and in
life,
choose
your
friends
carefully
and always
remember
that they
are the
people who
helped you
make of
yourself
what you
are now
and who
you will
become.
With these
lessons
for life,
I know my
short time
here has
left
lasting
impressions
on my head
and my
heart.
College is
more than
a frat
party or a
classroom,
it's like
a
pre-school
for the
Real
World. It
has
equipped
me with
the basic
social
tools and
lessons I
need to
make it in
that big
ocean of
responsibility
and life.
I know
I'll spend
my last
two weeks
here as if
the end
were
coming all
too soon,
but with
every last
night at
the bar or
late-night
cram
session
for exams,
I'll know
it's only
the
beginning,
and I'll
thank
college
life for
the
wonderful
memories
and the
lessons
I'll never
forget.
Read other
articles
by
Michele
Michele
is a
communications
major at
Mt. St. Marys, and
servers as
Emmitsburg.net
Communications
Director