More of a dramatic title then needed but my professors keep reminding me that finals are just around the corner so I thought it fitting. I am not a writer, never have been, never will be. So I'm not going to pretend that I am one.
It struck me one day, though, that it might be to my benefit to write down lessons learned in my life and in college as a reminder to myself, and maybe a nifty tid-bit for someone else, so that I don't forget it and maybe, by miracle, follow my own advice for once.
To begin I'd like to note that at this point in my life, I am finishing up my freshman year of college and the semester is coming back to bite me in the ass. Everything that I told myself I wouldn't do this semester, that I made habit of last semester and in high school, I did.
So note to self, next year missy DO NOT:
1. Skip class as frequently if at all
2. Pintrest, Facebook, play Sudoku or Tetris, read books that have nothing to do with the lecture or anything that doesn't involve ACTIVELY listening and/or taking notes. It sucks when you have no idea what is going to be on the test even though you attended every class (mostly).
3. If you know you can get the answers for the tests after you take them, even if it's only the ones you missed - DO IT. They are most likely on the final and therefore awesome study material.
4. Papers are way more fun to write when it is not 3 am the night before they are do. At that hour you are cranky, tired, and a little loopy from sleep deprivation.
5. Study days and/or weeks before a test, not the 20 minutes before class.
6. Forget how lucky you are that you are here, heading to the exact future you want, and that you have made life-long friendships here that are precious and should never be taken for granted. These people see you are your prettiest and ugliest and still want to be around you. They will bring you french fries from McDonald's at 3 am and make you soup when you are sick. Treat them with the same respect.
7. Forget the people in your past that made you the person you are today. Good or bad influences you learned from them. And whether or not you chose to keep them in your life after you have left, do it with no regrets. You cannot live your life in the past because you have reached a new chapter. "It's a whole 'nother can of worms" as my mother would tell me. Find out what path to lead down next, always travel with a buddy, and do what you love.
As a note to other freshman:
1. Live in the dorms your first year and introduce yourself to EVERYONE, especially upperclassman. You have a lot to learn from them.
2. Avoid the meal plan at all costs. The food will suck. You will get fat. And it is way too expensive.
3. The freshman 15 is a very real thing unless you go to the gym at least a couple days a week. Work out, no one will judge you for how sweaty you look while hiking back across campus, they will revere you.
4. Value what little sleep you get. Every minute is a very precious thing.
5. Get to know at least one professor a semester. If it means taking an honor class so there are fewer people to fight his or her time for, it is worth it. Having someone know you means you can use them as references on job and scholarship applications.
6. If you can get your hands on money do it. I don't mean selling drugs. Get a job, keep up with scholarship applications, beg your family for it. Save it. You will run out of it before you know it.
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7. If you are not a partier like I was coming into school, there is nothing wrong with missing out on a few. If you are not a drinker, don't let lose and become one right away - most of your friends who do this will likely take it too far i.e. getting arrested and/or cited for drinking underage or public intoxication, eating jail bologna during his drunk night it jail, or spending most of finals week under the influence. If you don't do drugs it's best that you don't start now. Many of these habits cost way too much money then you can afford to part with whether you know it now or not.
As a final note to this note: the lesson every single one of my professors has taught me this semester that had little to do with the rest of this note to myself.
"Own your shit! That is where the money is made." Disney learned it the hard way and lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Universal and that is why he copyrighted the shit out of Mickey Mouse.
