Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Top Five Ways to Survive College

Going to college for the first time, second time and even for the last time is a roller coaster ride of emotions. College is never the same every single day. On some days it can be cool and relaxing, most of the days it can be a mad rush of deadlines, written exams, oral reports and papers due. Just having too much of anything can be a big stress for us in our typical college life. In order to avoid this, let me share to you some tips.

Here are 5 good ways to survive college:

#1 Know your priority
One of my interviewees in this article is Miss Joan Jao, a UAAP track and field athlete and a cum laude graduate from De La Salle University in Taft. I asked her how she survived her college life knowing that she played for her school, yet did excellent in her academics. "Paano yan! I did not survive college, nag-excel ako!", she gladly said. Her answer intrigued me so I asked further and listened to every detail she shared. "Know what you want. Decide to prioritize. Take top 1, then focus on it.", she added. She believes that we should set our own goals, guidelines and be determined to follow it as we face our college life adventure. This is easier than playing catch up. Just like when we set a certain grade steady throughout our college career. If we want to get a grade of at least 4.5 in our QPA (quarterly percentage accumulated) we have to do it from the beginning. If we get those grades the first semester, this lets us know what we need to do each semester to keep up this pace and get these good marks again.

#2 Good time management
We are going to need this skill for the rest of our life, not just in school, but also when we start having our own work and family. So why not start early? Time management is one of the most important skills we should master in order to balance the things we need to do and the things we want to do, especially when we are in school. Soon, we will find ourselves with so much free time. How we choose to spend our time can be the determinant for our future success as a college student. "Make every time productive", says Miss Kimberly Medina. She was the captain ball in table tennis in her senior year and also a graduate from De La Salle University with honors and received the 'Athlete of the year' award. "Back then, I used my time in the morning to attend all my classes. When break time, I do all my homework and projects, and I used my time in the evening to attend my training ". She did not waste a minute of her time while she was still studying in college, that is just why she achieved success and survived her life in college. If you are a student athlete right at this moment, you just might want to follow what she did at her time.

Just like her, let us not wait until the end of the semester to complete all our projects. If we do things as we go along, we just have to maintain the pace, which is easier than doing everything at once. I am a firm believer in procrastination, but it always seems to get us in trouble.

#3 Have good friends
Let us admit it! At some point in time we need to be absent in class because of some reasons. The best way to be updated with the lessons is asking our friends about it or borrowing their notes. Not only that, we can always count on them when we need their help. We do not want to be all alone in college, do we? Plus, they can be trusted in any given group work because they want to make sure they contribute as much as we do just to keep the smooth sailing relationship with them.

#4 Just have fun
Yes, we need to study, but we also need to have fun! These are four of the greatest years of our life! So let us get our papers done, stay up late, go to Eastwood and have a blast! "I survived college just doing what is fun for me.", Miss Kathleen Ira, a Miriam College graduate, who was an active student at her time, explained in her interview that College is more of theories. In order for our ideas and learning to expand, we need to put ourselves in the different activities that can hone our skills. Through joining organizations, we can meet new friends and do tasks that we are not only going to enjoy, but will be responsible for it. "I don't like being pressured, especially in school. Once na nagpanic ka, mapaparalyze ka!" That is why whatever she does, she makes sure she is having fun in order for her to have a better output.

#5 Be good to yourself
After all the things we do in school to survive, we should still remember to take good care of ourselves. Having four hours of sleep and an empty stomach or junk-food diet is a big NO! It is still important to keep our body and mind healthy because we use those everyday.

Now that you have ideas on how to survive college, this is the right time to start making a wonderful school year. Good luck!

(P.S. this article is used in my journalism class, just wanted to post it here in my blog)

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Top Five Ways to Survive College

Going to college for the first time, second time and even for the last time is a roller coaster ride of emotions. College is never the same every single day. On some days it can be cool and relaxing, most of the days it can be a mad rush of deadlines, written exams, oral reports and papers due. Just having too much of anything can be a big stress for us in our typical college life. In order to avoid this, let me share to you some tips.

Here are 5 good ways to survive college:

#1 Know your priority
One of my interviewees in this article is Miss Joan Jao, a UAAP track and field athlete and a cum laude graduate from De La Salle University in Taft. I asked her how she survived her college life knowing that she played for her school, yet did excellent in her academics. "Paano yan! I did not survive college, nag-excel ako!", she gladly said. Her answer intrigued me so I asked further and listened to every detail she shared. "Know what you want. Decide to prioritize. Take top 1, then focus on it.", she added. She believes that we should set our own goals, guidelines and be determined to follow it as we face our college life adventure. This is easier than playing catch up. Just like when we set a certain grade steady throughout our college career. If we want to get a grade of at least 4.5 in our QPA (quarterly percentage accumulated) we have to do it from the beginning. If we get those grades the first semester, this lets us know what we need to do each semester to keep up this pace and get these good marks again.

#2 Good time management
We are going to need this skill for the rest of our life, not just in school, but also when we start having our own work and family. So why not start early? Time management is one of the most important skills we should master in order to balance the things we need to do and the things we want to do, especially when we are in school. Soon, we will find ourselves with so much free time. How we choose to spend our time can be the determinant for our future success as a college student. "Make every time productive", says Miss Kimberly Medina. She was the captain ball in table tennis in her senior year and also a graduate from De La Salle University with honors and received the 'Athlete of the year' award. "Back then, I used my time in the morning to attend all my classes. When break time, I do all my homework and projects, and I used my time in the evening to attend my training ". She did not waste a minute of her time while she was still studying in college, that is just why she achieved success and survived her life in college. If you are a student athlete right at this moment, you just might want to follow what she did at her time.

Just like her, let us not wait until the end of the semester to complete all our projects. If we do things as we go along, we just have to maintain the pace, which is easier than doing everything at once. I am a firm believer in procrastination, but it always seems to get us in trouble.

#3 Have good friends
Let us admit it! At some point in time we need to be absent in class because of some reasons. The best way to be updated with the lessons is asking our friends about it or borrowing their notes. Not only that, we can always count on them when we need their help. We do not want to be all alone in college, do we? Plus, they can be trusted in any given group work because they want to make sure they contribute as much as we do just to keep the smooth sailing relationship with them.

#4 Just have fun
Yes, we need to study, but we also need to have fun! These are four of the greatest years of our life! So let us get our papers done, stay up late, go to Eastwood and have a blast! "I survived college just doing what is fun for me.", Miss Kathleen Ira, a Miriam College graduate, who was an active student at her time, explained in her interview that College is more of theories. In order for our ideas and learning to expand, we need to put ourselves in the different activities that can hone our skills. Through joining organizations, we can meet new friends and do tasks that we are not only going to enjoy, but will be responsible for it. "I don't like being pressured, especially in school. Once na nagpanic ka, mapaparalyze ka!" That is why whatever she does, she makes sure she is having fun in order for her to have a better output.

#5 Be good to yourself
After all the things we do in school to survive, we should still remember to take good care of ourselves. Having four hours of sleep and an empty stomach or junk-food diet is a big NO! It is still important to keep our body and mind healthy because we use those everyday.

Now that you have ideas on how to survive college, this is the right time to start making a wonderful school year. Good luck!

(P.S. this article is used in my journalism class, just wanted to post it here in my blog)

No comments: