People say that college is the best time of your life. They’re right; if you do it properly. As a senior here at Madison, I’ve taken some mental notes along the way, things that I’ve either learned from experience or wish I had done during my first three years at UW. If I could start over, I’d do it in a heartbeat; I’ve already tried, but my sister who’s going to be a freshman at Michigan wouldn’t switch places with me. Honestly though, I wouldn’t want to be a Wolverine anyway.
Perhaps the most important aspect to success in college is meeting people. Networking really is the key to life. You’ve heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” It’s entirely true. Madison provides you with incredible opportunities to meet people from all over the world, with different areas of interest and diverse backgrounds. Expand your horizons. Force yourself out of your comfort zone; that’s how you grow as an individual. If you see someone sitting at a table by themselves, go talk to them. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Create as many contacts as you can; they’ll come in handy some day, believe me.
Along those same lines, keep in touch with your contacts. In today’s world, you have no excuse not to. With Facebook, G-chat, E-mail, instant messenger, text messaging, BBMs, Twitter, you can keep in touch with everyone with just a simple click or two. Do it. You’ll never know when that person can come in handy down the road. Make contacts and keep in touch with them. It’s the key to life, I’m telling you.
Don’t be afraid to self-promote. Facebook, blogs, other forms of social media provide a great way for you to show the world what you can do. It’s not bragging; it’s merely self-marketing. You never know who stumbles upon your work or ideas and likes what you do. That too can come in handy some day.
I have a theory, it’s called: Finding the Dork in You. This is no longer high school. The “uncool” things to do no longer exist. If you were a math wiz but never would have been caught dead at a math club meeting, times have changed. Find what drives you. If you like biology, real estate, biochemical engineering, poetry, go explore your options here at UW. If there’s not already a club, start your own. It’s no longer uncool. Find the dork in you. Mine was writing. I wrote for The Badger Herald for my entire first three years here, skipping football pre-games to cover the team from the press box. I had to make sacrifices, but it’s opened some pretty cool doors for me down the road. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Diversify your skill set. You are like a stock portfolio; you want to diversify your assets. Gather as many skills as you can. If you’re a writer, take an economics class. If you’re into business, take computer science. You’ll never know when different skills will come in handy for you and it’s important to be well-rounded and not narrow-minded. Imagine if you devoted all your time to newspaper design or VCR production. Those industries don’t last forever. Become well-versed in many areas, and you’ll be an asset to any future employer you encounter.
In order to be as knowledgeable as you possibly can in as many areas as possible, you need to teach yourself. The best way to do that is to read. Not necessarily books either. Read online. Read about politics, economics, chemistry, if that’s your thing. Just understand the world in which you live. I can’t tell you how valuable that is. Learning in class is one thing, but the kids who are best equipped to succeed outside the classroom are the ones who went above and beyond, reading, learning on their own time. Remember, you don’t fill in multiple choice bubbles in the real world.
Aside from learning on your own and in the classroom, talk to your professors. Not just your TAs, either, I mean professors. This is my biggest regret of my first three years of college; I rarely talked to my professors. Not only could it potentially help you go from a B to an AB or an AB to an A, but you’ll understand the material tenfold, which could perhaps spark a future interest that you may not have originally thought of.
I’ve come up with another theory, that 94 percent of success in all life activities stems from confidence and experience. All right, 94 is an arbitrary number, but so much of success in all endeavors comes from those two things. Practice really does make perfect and confidence in yourself breeds others confidence’ in you.
In order to stay confident in yourself, you want to stay in shape. This is overlooked by so many college kids. Use the SERF, eat right, stay healthy. If you look good and feel good, your confidence will stay high and you’ll take yourself to new heights. It’s easy to drink too much beer and put on that proverbial freshman 15. It’s avoidable; you just have to be proactive and smart.
And lastly, have some fun. Go out on Tuesdays if you want, assuming you have no Wednesday exam. I told you this is going to be the best four years of your life. I wasn’t kidding. I’m pissed I only have two semesters left.
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