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I’m looking for any useful tips for college life and how to mentally prepare for the stress, home sickness, etc. I’ve never had much experience on my own. I’m not going to school for partying; I’m willing to work hard. While I feel like I’m determined, I don’t think I’ve been tested enough yet to really know. I’m a shy person generally, and I don’t feel I’m as strong-willed as I would like to be. I know that you really need to tough it out to survive, and I don’t want to waste my time or money. I want to get as much as I can out of college. Any tips?

Some tips:

1. Use your anxiety/insecurity/fear to your advantage. Prepare by reading a lot, exercising a lot, and organizing your daily schedule. More than intelligence, college requires academic preparation, time management, and sound physical and mental health.

2. Once you are enrolled, relax. Read, do your homework, and study EVERYDAY. Do not cram. Answer recitations, handle projects, and sit for your examinations with confidence. Have faith in yourself and in your God (if you have a religion).

3. Set reasonable academic goals. Once you’ve adjusted well in your studies, maintain or improve your class standing by never being complacent and always performing any task to the best of your abilities.

4. Join extracurricular activities to enhance social, leadership, and organizational skills. Although these will not improve your transcript and academic standing, these activities will add color to your resume.

5. Strike a balance amongst your academic, extracurricular, and family responsibilities. At any rate, your physical health should be your priority.

6. Ready to face any setback with a smile, an open heart and an open mind. School, like life, is never perfect and would never turn into a bed of roses. Bounce back and roll with the punches. Do your tasks seriously but take your shortcomings on a light note. Accept and forgive yourself, learn from your mistakes, and do better the next time.

7. Handle personal finances well. Assess where you can save as much money in any facet of school life, i.e., photocopying, transportation, meals, etc. The more you save, the more you keep for future contingencies.

8. Set your mind and heart to graduate. Always finish what you have started. Many college students end up dropping out due to career or marriage prospects. Make a personal commitment to get your college degree in the shortest time possible. Once you graduate, you can move on and do other things.

9. Read, learn, live. Don’t limit your learning experience to your textbooks, homeworks, and projects. Read newspapers, academic journals, magazines, books, etc. Visit museums, do volunteer work, get a summer job, etc. College life shouldn’t stop you from living and exploring life outside school. Just prioritize your studies before anything else.

10. Learn from the heart. Enjoy school by really appreciating every lesson learned and applying it to real life situations as well. Study to learn, comprehend, and understand your lessons. Use college life to prepare well for life outside school, not just to become popular, get a good transcript, or reap awards.

11. Have fun. Being responsible doesn’t mean boring yourself to death. Enjoy every bit of learning and have fun while you still have your youth and a very promising life ahead.

The best of luck. Study hard but have fun as well… 🙂