25 Words of Wisdom for College Freshmen
August 13, 2009
Thinking back to your college experience, what do you wish you would have known about your freshman year? What did you do just right? What do you wish you could get a “do-over” on? Topics could include:
- Studying (or lack thereof)
- Alcohol consumption (or lack thereof)
- Reading textbooks
- Reading syllabi
- Time management
- Involvement in campus activities
- Making friends
- Using library resources for research
- Maintaining a personal budget
Using the model created by Liz Strauss at The Successful Blog, share 25 Words of Wisdom for first-year college students in my Making Connections class. Use exactly 25 words, no more, no less. Full sentences are not needed. Here’s a slight adaptation of Liz’s guidelines and a link to her completed project:
- Think about your freshman year in college.
- Write a sentence about it.
- Count the words you have written.
- Edit the sentence until you have 25 words exactly. Notice how your idea changes as you edit and how your feelings change with each rewrite.
- Post your 25 words as a comment to this blog posting OR on your blog by July 31st.
- Link back to this post (from your blog) or leave a link to your post in the comments section. (I don’t want to miss yours when I compile all of them.)
Oh yes, if you have some wonderful thoughts and can’t make it fit into 25 words, that’s okay, too. I’d still like to know what they are. Simply comment below. No worries.
7 Comments
leave one →
Barbara Nixon
Learn from every experience you can – this goes beyond the classroom: read, socialize, play sport, volunteer. Don’t worry about Straight As and soak it up!
Take advantage of all your universities’ resources. The best lessons are taught / learned beyond the classroom by teachers and other staff. And, travel abroad.
Intern – as much as you can. All of my friends who found jobs after graduation would not have been able to without internships in college.
Get to know your colleagues, get involved with other activities, and use the resources that are available to you such as asking teachers for help when you need it; getting to know your professor can go along way-go beyond what teachers ask you to do because that will stand out.
Pick a major… get as many internships as possible… socialize… stop procrastinating… get organized (a day planner is your best friend)… take tons of pictures.
Learn quickly how to manage your time. Don’t procrastinate. “All nighters” are stupid. It means you didn’t do what you were supposed to do ahead of time. And, staying up all night is bad for your health. I ended up getting so sick my freshman year because I had such crazy sleep habits due to poor time management. Beyond that, enjoy these years and yes, take lots of pictures.
Don’t overwhelm yourself. Take time to relax and not get stressed out. Getting stressed out will only make things worse. Figure out required websites and homework before the day its due. Relax and meet new people, don’t be a loner. Most of all realize that your in college for your own benefit and no one can make you succeed.