What I Wish I Knew Before College
It is so crazy to me that it is August right now! My family and I leave next weekend to drop my brother off for his sophomore year of college. This summer has flown by, and it still hasn't sunk in that I will not be going back to school this year. Back to school is something that I have known pretty much my whole life. I do start an internship next week (woohoo, making big girl moves over here!) so my "summer break" is coming to an end, although it will not end in the beginning of a school year, like every other summer has.
So, in order to contribute to back to school season, I decided to talk about the ten things that I wish I knew before college. Most of these things I am actually happy that I learned during college because they helped to shape me into the person I am today. But it also would have meant a lot to me if someone had given me this advice as well. So, here are 10 things I wish I knew before college!
ONE // YOU DON'T NEED TO GET COLLEGE CREDIT IN HIGH SCHOOL
I went to a private, college prep, all girls high school. We were all over achievers and pretty much everyone in my class was getting some sort of college credit. I only took two honors courses my junior year of high school, and although they offered college credit for those classes, I honestly didn't want to register them for credit. It cost money, I wasn't entirely sure how to do it, and my parents weren't pushing me to do it either. I still felt like I was behind everyone else, though, and went into college terrified that I wouldn't graduate in four years because I didn't register any credit hours. Well guess what? I graduated on time while taking 15/16 credit hours every semester, and even 13 credit hours my final semester. College credit really doesn't mean that much and it wasn't necessary for my college career.
TWO // DON'T BE AFRAID TO BRANCH OUT AND MEET NEW PEOPLE
I seriously can not stress this enough! I know it sounds cliche, but everyone is in the exact same boat as you. They want friends, too. I came into college comfortable with my relationship with my high school friends and my high school boyfriend. While that's great and there are so many people that have that same relationship, I used it as a crutch. I didn't go out during syllabus week, I didn't really get to know people in my sorority, and I didn't really have friends my freshman year of college. Living in my sorority house and joining organizations on campus my sophomore year helped so much, but I was too scared as a freshman to join things or even talk to people I didn't know. Push yourself, because it will be so worth it.
THREE // JOIN AS MANY ORGANIZATIONS AS POSSIBLE
This kind of goes with the point above, but is a little more elaborate. I was in a sorority where I held multiple positions, including on the exec board. I was on a dance team where I was on the exec board for 2 years. I was in 2 Greek honors organizations (on exec for one of them). I was a recruitment counselor my senior year and was even promoted to a head recruitment counselor. I loved to be involved because it got me out of my bubble, I met so many new people, and overall, I had fun. It also helps that it looks great on a resume. Even if you join a club and just sit in the back and don't say anything, you went. And who knows, maybe the person you sit next to will become one of your best friends.
FOUR // NOTHING IS GUARANTEED
When I was younger, I never really got rejected. I always got into shows, and made teams I tried out and auditioned for, and thought I was pretty good at what I did. But when I started applying for internships as a sophomore, I got rejected. To every single one that I applied for. I was floored. I thought that I was a perfect candidate for an intern and was shocked nobody wanted me. But that's because I had no leadership experience yet, was still taking only gen ed courses, and just overall was not ready. I worked my butt off junior year and got a great internship the next summer. Even now, as someone with a Bachelor's degree, I'm still going into an internship instead of a full time job. Nothing is guaranteed, and you always need to work hard and assure that you are ahead of the pack and stand out from everyone else.
FIVE // YOU WILL LEARN MORE ABOUT YOURSELF IN THESE FOUR YEARS THAN IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE
Honestly, I'm a completely different person now than I was freshman year, and I am so happy about it. I was shy, too thin, way too anxious, and went home every single weekend. I was scared to go out to parties, and didn't even want to be in my own sorority. But now, I made friends in my sorority and became incredibly involved in it. I learned to love going out and that going out didn't need to mean getting black out drunk every weekend. And I also learned to open up to people who weren't my high school friends and even ended up making better friends in college. I completely changed, in a good way, and so will you.
SIX // SAY YES AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE
I wrote a blog post on this topic a little over a year ago. Saying yes to people, organizations, friendships, and so much more made me a much happier person in college. Now obviously have some boundaries and sometimes it is better to have a night in than a night out, but make sure that you are at least saying "yes" more than you are saying "no".
SEVEN // PUT IN THE EFFORT
With school work, friendships, your family, and literally everything you do in college. This experience is what you make of it, and if you don't put in the effort, then you're not going to get much out of it. And who wants to regret a whole four years of their life?????
EIGHT // YOU MIGHT NOT BE BEST FRIENDS WITH YOUR ROOM MATE
I know everyone expects to get on that incoming freshman Facebook page, and meet their roomie and best friend all in one. I get it, because I thought the exact same thing. But, it did not happen. My freshman year room mate and I had a lot in common and were involved in the same things in high school and we had great conversations on the app. So we decided to room together. But, it did not work out. We never fought, we were never mean to each other, and honestly we were friendly all four years of college. But we weren't best friends. We didn't talk all that much. And sometimes she got on my nerves. I'm not saying this to put her on blast, because she's honestly awesome and one of the funniest people I've ever met. But we just didn't end up being as close and being the "best friend" room mates, so I just want all the incoming freshman to be aware that your first room mate may not be your bestie.
I had great room mates my other years of college, and ended up living in a house with my best friend for two years. So as you meet and live with you people you will definitely realize what you want and don't want out of someone that you live with.
NINE // VISIT YOUR FRIENDS AT OTHER SCHOOLS, BUT SPEND TIME AT YOUR OWN SCHOOL, TOO
I spent the majority of weekends my freshman and sophomore year of college either at home or visiting other schools. Now don't get me wrong, visiting other schools is a blast, especially when your friends go to an SEC football school and your school doesn't even have football. But I didn't get to enjoy weekends and making memories at my own university. Even if I didn't go out and hang out with friends every single weekend, I still look fondly on those weekend memories where I did housework, studied at coffee shops, or was even lazy and watched Netflix all weekend. But there were weekends when I was barely at my house, at other friends' houses, and at bars. I do not regret going to visit my friends from home, but I do wish that I had stayed a lot more weekends and made the most of them.
TEN // GO TO SPORTING EVENTS!
This is one of my biggest regrets. My school wasn't a small private school, so we didn't have football and our homecoming game every year was a soccer game with a mediocre tailgate. We also are pretty good at basketball and even made it to the NCAA March Madness tournament this past year. My senior year I went to basketball games, soccer games, hockey games, even baseball games and they were pretty dang fun. I kicked myself for not getting involved in my school's sports until the year I was supposed to graduate. So even if your school doesn't have a ton of well known sports (like mine,) still go and make the most of it with your friends because they are pretty dang fun!
Good luck to everyone going back to school this year! Although I am ready for this next chapter of my life, I still will miss the routine of going back to school.
xoxo, Hannah
So, in order to contribute to back to school season, I decided to talk about the ten things that I wish I knew before college. Most of these things I am actually happy that I learned during college because they helped to shape me into the person I am today. But it also would have meant a lot to me if someone had given me this advice as well. So, here are 10 things I wish I knew before college!
ONE // YOU DON'T NEED TO GET COLLEGE CREDIT IN HIGH SCHOOL
I went to a private, college prep, all girls high school. We were all over achievers and pretty much everyone in my class was getting some sort of college credit. I only took two honors courses my junior year of high school, and although they offered college credit for those classes, I honestly didn't want to register them for credit. It cost money, I wasn't entirely sure how to do it, and my parents weren't pushing me to do it either. I still felt like I was behind everyone else, though, and went into college terrified that I wouldn't graduate in four years because I didn't register any credit hours. Well guess what? I graduated on time while taking 15/16 credit hours every semester, and even 13 credit hours my final semester. College credit really doesn't mean that much and it wasn't necessary for my college career.
TWO // DON'T BE AFRAID TO BRANCH OUT AND MEET NEW PEOPLE
I seriously can not stress this enough! I know it sounds cliche, but everyone is in the exact same boat as you. They want friends, too. I came into college comfortable with my relationship with my high school friends and my high school boyfriend. While that's great and there are so many people that have that same relationship, I used it as a crutch. I didn't go out during syllabus week, I didn't really get to know people in my sorority, and I didn't really have friends my freshman year of college. Living in my sorority house and joining organizations on campus my sophomore year helped so much, but I was too scared as a freshman to join things or even talk to people I didn't know. Push yourself, because it will be so worth it.
THREE // JOIN AS MANY ORGANIZATIONS AS POSSIBLE
This kind of goes with the point above, but is a little more elaborate. I was in a sorority where I held multiple positions, including on the exec board. I was on a dance team where I was on the exec board for 2 years. I was in 2 Greek honors organizations (on exec for one of them). I was a recruitment counselor my senior year and was even promoted to a head recruitment counselor. I loved to be involved because it got me out of my bubble, I met so many new people, and overall, I had fun. It also helps that it looks great on a resume. Even if you join a club and just sit in the back and don't say anything, you went. And who knows, maybe the person you sit next to will become one of your best friends.
FOUR // NOTHING IS GUARANTEED
When I was younger, I never really got rejected. I always got into shows, and made teams I tried out and auditioned for, and thought I was pretty good at what I did. But when I started applying for internships as a sophomore, I got rejected. To every single one that I applied for. I was floored. I thought that I was a perfect candidate for an intern and was shocked nobody wanted me. But that's because I had no leadership experience yet, was still taking only gen ed courses, and just overall was not ready. I worked my butt off junior year and got a great internship the next summer. Even now, as someone with a Bachelor's degree, I'm still going into an internship instead of a full time job. Nothing is guaranteed, and you always need to work hard and assure that you are ahead of the pack and stand out from everyone else.
FIVE // YOU WILL LEARN MORE ABOUT YOURSELF IN THESE FOUR YEARS THAN IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE
Honestly, I'm a completely different person now than I was freshman year, and I am so happy about it. I was shy, too thin, way too anxious, and went home every single weekend. I was scared to go out to parties, and didn't even want to be in my own sorority. But now, I made friends in my sorority and became incredibly involved in it. I learned to love going out and that going out didn't need to mean getting black out drunk every weekend. And I also learned to open up to people who weren't my high school friends and even ended up making better friends in college. I completely changed, in a good way, and so will you.
SIX // SAY YES AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE
I wrote a blog post on this topic a little over a year ago. Saying yes to people, organizations, friendships, and so much more made me a much happier person in college. Now obviously have some boundaries and sometimes it is better to have a night in than a night out, but make sure that you are at least saying "yes" more than you are saying "no".
SEVEN // PUT IN THE EFFORT
With school work, friendships, your family, and literally everything you do in college. This experience is what you make of it, and if you don't put in the effort, then you're not going to get much out of it. And who wants to regret a whole four years of their life?????
EIGHT // YOU MIGHT NOT BE BEST FRIENDS WITH YOUR ROOM MATE
I know everyone expects to get on that incoming freshman Facebook page, and meet their roomie and best friend all in one. I get it, because I thought the exact same thing. But, it did not happen. My freshman year room mate and I had a lot in common and were involved in the same things in high school and we had great conversations on the app. So we decided to room together. But, it did not work out. We never fought, we were never mean to each other, and honestly we were friendly all four years of college. But we weren't best friends. We didn't talk all that much. And sometimes she got on my nerves. I'm not saying this to put her on blast, because she's honestly awesome and one of the funniest people I've ever met. But we just didn't end up being as close and being the "best friend" room mates, so I just want all the incoming freshman to be aware that your first room mate may not be your bestie.
I had great room mates my other years of college, and ended up living in a house with my best friend for two years. So as you meet and live with you people you will definitely realize what you want and don't want out of someone that you live with.
NINE // VISIT YOUR FRIENDS AT OTHER SCHOOLS, BUT SPEND TIME AT YOUR OWN SCHOOL, TOO
I spent the majority of weekends my freshman and sophomore year of college either at home or visiting other schools. Now don't get me wrong, visiting other schools is a blast, especially when your friends go to an SEC football school and your school doesn't even have football. But I didn't get to enjoy weekends and making memories at my own university. Even if I didn't go out and hang out with friends every single weekend, I still look fondly on those weekend memories where I did housework, studied at coffee shops, or was even lazy and watched Netflix all weekend. But there were weekends when I was barely at my house, at other friends' houses, and at bars. I do not regret going to visit my friends from home, but I do wish that I had stayed a lot more weekends and made the most of them.
TEN // GO TO SPORTING EVENTS!
This is one of my biggest regrets. My school wasn't a small private school, so we didn't have football and our homecoming game every year was a soccer game with a mediocre tailgate. We also are pretty good at basketball and even made it to the NCAA March Madness tournament this past year. My senior year I went to basketball games, soccer games, hockey games, even baseball games and they were pretty dang fun. I kicked myself for not getting involved in my school's sports until the year I was supposed to graduate. So even if your school doesn't have a ton of well known sports (like mine,) still go and make the most of it with your friends because they are pretty dang fun!
Good luck to everyone going back to school this year! Although I am ready for this next chapter of my life, I still will miss the routine of going back to school.
xoxo, Hannah
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