Senior year of high school, graduation in May, starting college in the fall, these are all mile-stones in a young-adults life. Four months seems like a long time to get everything ready for school, but in reality, you will never again have enough time to do anything. Time is not your only problem in college, money is a major factor as well. There are many tips and other ways to help save you some money. Another great thing about college is new people. In college you will have to learn to manage your time, your money, and your social life to have a great year, and hopefully three more wonderful years after.
Time is always of the essence. The first few days on campus it will seem like you have all the time in the world to do things. Classes will not have started and sometimes you do not want to attend some of the functions the school is holding. But, after orientation week, you will soon find yourself wandering where that time went and can you have it back. Classes in college are vastly different than high school classes. The first day or so you jump right into your topic, you do not do any ice-breakers or play games, in some classes you start on notes the first day. Be prepared to have homework your first week of school, and the homework will continue in the weeks to come. Managing time is a lot harder than anyone has told you, or you have ever even considered. In college there is usually something going on around campus therefore it is easy to get distracted and wanting to go to the event instead of study or work on school work. But, you will soon find that that was not the best decision when you enter class next time and realize you did not prepare yourself for the questions your professor fires at you. You will learn eventually to prioritize your time and accomplish everything that needs to be accomplished once you get into your daily routine.
Money goes faster when you do not have your parents sitting next to you. When you look and see that your wallet is empty, you will begin to learn to manage money. If you are lucky, you can find an on-campus job, or off-campus, or be able to keep your job back home. But, since you are a full-time student, the income does not flow as well as it does in the summer when you are not attending school, even if you do have a job. What I have found works best for me is having cash and not relying on my debit card. Studies have shown that people who use cash rather than debit or credit cards often save more. I agree with the study. When I see my cash flying out of my hand, it makes a greater impact than swiping my debit card through the machine. I have also found it nice to check my statements on my ‘munch money’, which is printed on all of your receipts after a transaction. I then have to think of how many more weeks I need to be able to get by on that kind of money and then I say, ‘I can only eat out on Fridays,’. This helps me budget my money without ever really freaking out. Another easy tip is to rent your textbooks. My ‘Intro to Visual Arts’ will probably not be needed after this semester, so instead of buying it, I rented it from a local textbook renting store and saved around $100. It was simple, easy, and saved me some extra cash.
Last, but certainly not least, is managing your social life. Starting college is an exciting, but also nerve racking time. People do not know you in college, which can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. Roommate assignments are also fun and scary. The best thing to do is facebook them right away. The sooner you make contact the better you will feel about rooming with them for a year. I was lucky enough to live close to my roommate and we scheduled a time to meet and have lunch together to get to know each other. Luckily, we stayed at Steak and Shake for three hours talking and getting to know each other. It was a great way to introduce and I felt a lot more comfortable knowing that I liked the girl I was about to be rooming with. Establishing contact right away helped a lot and took a huge weight off of my shoulders. But, since I live in a suite, I had two other roommates. I did not get the chance to meet with them before school started, but we were friends on facebook and that was a good start. We messaged each other on there, and I found that the Internet is such a wonderful invention, because without it I would have been scared to meet my roommates. Luckily, my roommates are the best. We have our own routine set up. We have movie nights every Thursday, and meet for lunch on Fridays. We do a lot together, even work-out and study. Another good way to gain a social life is to try and talk to the people on your floor and try and have dinner or lunch with them. Do not confine yourself to just your roommates, meet new people and hangout with them as well. Going to some of the on-campus events, joining intramurals, and clubs are also great ways of meeting new people and making friends. I have made numerous friends by signing up for intramurals and participating in on-campus activities.
College is mainly about going to school and earning a degree for a future job, but do not forget to form new friendships and have fun. Take advantage of every opportunity you can get. But do not forget to watch your time, budget your money, and make lots of new friends.
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