I have learned quite a bit about myself as a person and student throughout my past three years in college. I feel I have acquired the self-discipline I wish I had my freshman year. Balancing my social life and homework was something that took a while for me to navigate. My freshman year, I would prioritize a movie night with my friends and parties at the frats over finishing an essay or doing my homework in general. This led to a lot of late and poorly done assignments. The decline in my grades made me realize that something needed to change. I didn’t have to stop hanging out with my friends and boyfriend, but I did have to start making sure I was staying on top of my work. I actually had a conversation about this with my friends and they told me they were also struggling with this. We decided we would make Tuesday nights our library/study nights. If we were at the library, we were not allowed to leave until everyone was done with their work. If we were at one of our houses and one of us finished our work, we weren’t allowed to throw on a movie or turn music on until everyone was done. This was something that helped us as a collective. We all benefited from having these “rules” within our friend group.
Another issue I struggled with was studying. I noticed that studying in college was different than in high school. In high school, it was more about memorization but in college, it is crucial to learn the content. Setting up study groups with people in my classes was something that helped me. It was also helpful to know the people in my classes. If I was having a hard time with the subject and my professor wasn’t available, it was nice to have people to text or call who could help. It is also nice to know people just for the sake of knowing you’re not the only one struggling. Sometimes we feel as if we’re the only people having a hard time with class material, but the content can get difficult. This is probably my best tip, make at least one friend in each class. It can come in handy more than you’d expect. College can be fun, it doesn’t have to be stressful if you’re focused and prioritize your work.