Nico Addai

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I’ve started college. It’s really flown by. In addition to experiencing so many things good and bad, I’ve also come to know myself a little bit more. Here are a couple of tips that I plan to use:

1. Streak with everything and everyone. And by this I mean be consistent; nothing good came from texting or reading a page every couple of days. If you want to keep in contact with friends from high school, text them often enough that every major development in their lives doesn’t take you by surprise. For academics, if you do the readings or your problem sets spaced out the pain is thousands of times less. The only thing that hurts about working hard EVERYDAY is when you don’t get an A.
2. Pace yourself. There’s nothing worse than getting burned out in the middle of the semester and then drowning in work and lost connections because you’re so tired. Make time for friends, but don’t go out every day with them, or if you’re introverted like me, every week. As for internships and jobs, unless absolutely necessary, don’t take more than 40 hours per week for any one activity. After all, there’s only 168 hours in a week, why spend a third on it on anything but academics?
3. Only three major things at a time. For example: Hospital volunteer, work-study, weight-loss. Supportive friend, assertive debater, learning how to do your hair. You can switch it up week to week, but remember, humans were not built to multitask.
4. Stay out of your room. Other than the fact that most college dorms are just modified prison cells, you can’t meet new people if you’re in your room all the time! Hang out in your common spaces, at the dining hall, or the sports center. Not only will you focus on the moment more, you’ll be forced to talk!
5. Grades matter, but not that much. Unless you’re pre- something, learning is the reason why you’re in school. As much as I know I need to keep my grades up, I also need to enjoy the process, which I am at the moment 🙂 .