Back to School: College Tips and Tricks for a Great Year
Back to school time comes with so many feelings. If your heading off to college for the first time, there can be excitement and trepidation. You might be trying to cram in those last bits of summer but likely, it’s been hard to ignore the nervous energy that is flowing through your body. If you want the most out of your experience, I recommend you tune into that energy now. When our bodies are sending us signals, it’s wise to listen. All of that electricity pulsing through you is a message - it’s saying something big is about to happen and it wants you to be prepared! Consider the following strategies to get into the mindset for a great experience.
Think about what education means to you. For some, college seemed like a long shot. For others, it was a given. No matter how you came to this point, consider why it matters to YOU. Are you just here to make your parents happy or are you invested for a more personal reason? Be honest and then ask yourself if this is going to motivate you when times are tough. If it isn’t, try to think ahead a little further. Can you find something deeper? What will it feel like to get that degree and start a career with focus and purpose? Notice how that feels and draw from that energy when needed.
Create a vision board. If you aren’t the type of person that loves to cut up magazines or make collages on Canva, it might sound cheesy. But do it anyway. Don’t worry about the colors or the fonts. Pay attention to the elements of the board that will remind you of your goals. Create a mix of pictures that answer the questions: what do I want from this experience? What are some of my core values? What do I hope to gain after college? Save the picture as your phone or laptop wallpaper and update as needed. When you don’t feel like putting in another hour of studying, look at the board.
Get involved. You’ll hear this over and over at orientations or back to school events, but I’ll say it here because it cannot be overstated. Getting involved on campus has a strong correlation to college success. I have seen this happen over and over with students on the brink of dropping out. If they are really committed to completing, they join a campus club or group. Getting involved connects you to people that are invested in the community, keeps you on campus longer (which keeps you in a good headspace), and gives you a sense of belonging. When you feel like you belong somewhere, you want to nurture that connection, which gives you a sense of obligation to your school work and your peers.
There are plenty of academic success strategies out there for managing your workload, studying efficiently and staying focused in class. But without the right mindset, they are generally worthless. Start with gathering a plan to stay connected to your goals and values, engaged with your community and committed to your success and the other skills will fall into place.
Stay curious!
