I´m about to begin my last semester of Industrial Design Major and to be honest I don´t know what to do next in my life, but I know whatever I choose will lead to something amazing.
As I´m giving an end to a stage in my life, my brother is starting it. This made me travel on time and feel again as a freshman. I asked my little brother how he felt, what he expected and wanted to achieve in the first week and since he is going to the same college I am, there were plenty of things I had to explain.
My brother is lucky to have a bigger sister and in the same college. What about those who doesn´t even have a cool bigger sibling? This is a basic survival guide for those entering into college, a new school or why not? Even for exchanging students.
1) Don´t be afraid to socialize
Have a chat with at least 10 persons on the first day it doesn´t matter who they are (security guard, professor, janitor, senior, etc) and how long the chat takes, but you got to do it.
Remember you will spend most of your time in college than your own home so knowing the people you are with is fundamental. Also you will change of classmates each semester and sooner or later you will need help from any of them and may be, who knows?, you can find a long lasting friendship.
If you are still not sure about this idea I can guarantee that after doing this you will know how to break the ice like a pro and at least 10 people will know who you are.
2) Know where you are
Have a quick campus tour on your first day, meet every corner, even places you might not frequent like the parking lot or the gym. This knowledge is of vital importance when you are late for class and you need a shorter route to avoid crashing with people. It will help you to find people easily according to where they hang out the most.
Also if you need a place to rest, read or practice guitar lessons without being bothered, you will spot the perfect place.
Important: Use your orientation knowledge to give directions, start talks and meet different people as it is said in point 1)
My college has enough free activities to satisfy not only the students but also the professors and employees. I don´t know what you are into, but is for sure that will find something interesting to do. Look for sports,Spanish lessons, geek stuff, playing instruments, dancing lessons, anything and choose one or two (depending on your academic weight) and learn something new and different. Believe it or not, having hobbies increases interest in your resume.
4) Have an agenda
I know that this might look old fashioned and silly because why will I use a stupid agenda when I can use my smartphone or my tablet and have everything in the same place? We already have apps made for all college needs, but believe me, an agenda will make your college life easier.
There are freaks in this world (like me) that need to write almost everything down on paper even if it is stored on the cloud and the reason I do it is because I get to remember more and for each time I write something I can take a pick on past notes. An agenda will remind you not only put order in your life but also to make your assignments, know your schedule, appointments, team´s emails and the most important of all: VACATIONS!!
5) Don´t underestimate anything!!
The most important advice of all, because there are two kinds of people, either you know EVERYTHING or NOTHING, the first one will learn nothing and will keep on being stupid until a reality slap hits him and the other one will become a master willing to learn more each day of his life.
You will learn from good and bad experiences that´s something granted and don´t forget that whatever you are studying EVERYTHING MATTERS!!
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