Good habits and tips to keep in mind for college students as we head into a new school year.
Five essential tips for college students starting the new year
If you’re like me and have a vivacious internal monologue, then your brain is probably crowded with thoughts that are all competing with each other to occupy space in your head.
As a college student, you probably have plenty of thoughts to chew on as you head back to school—you might be thinking about your friend who wants to grab lunch with you the moment you set foot on campus, or the emails you’ve already gotten from professors about course materials, or the groceries and toilet paper you still need to buy upon moving in.
It may seem pretty exhausting to stop and think about the bigger ideas while you wrestle with the rest of the noise floating around in your head, but here are five things you should keep in mind as you head into the school year.
1. Take the time to reflect and set goals.
Yes, it’s cliché, and you probably hear about this so often that you can’t help but groan. But seriously, this advice cannot be said enough.
Too often, people think they need to have a picture-perfect goal in mind that aligns with an idealized, and often unrealistic, vision of a career that they have for themselves, and they believe they need to have every step of the way planned out to a tee.
Reality is a little bit different.
Goal setting is a tool—one that allows you to increase both your clarity in everyday decision making and your potential to truly maximize your college experience. When you’re just starting out, it doesn’t really matter if your goal is ridiculously specific or plain and simple. The point of setting goals in college is to force you to ask the bigger questions: What do you want out of life?
With all that being said, it’s a pretty big ask. But you don’t have to have all the answers today. Goal setting is a continuous process of reflection and exploration.
2. Connect with people.
The career term for this would be networking, but you don’t have to limit your connections to the professional world.
Take the time to talk to people—all people. Ask them questions. Learn from them. Make an effort to meet new people, and approach social situations with an open mind.
As a college student, you are going to be exposed to a wide array of people every single day you set foot outside of your dorm or apartment. Take advantage of this! You never know who could inspire you, guide you, or empower you to do something that could positively change your life.
3. Understand how to deal with burnout and mental blocks.
It happens to all of us—at some point, you just get tired of everything you’re doing. You need breaks. And hey, it’s OK to take them.
Properly dealing with burnout and mental blocks is going to look different for everyone, but here’s a quote that totally changed my mindset about how to handle burnout:
"Sometimes, people feel burnt out when they’re working very hard but don’t see that translate into [anything worthwhile]. It’s not necessarily about the degree to which they’re working or the amount of time they’re putting in. It’s the lack of relationship between the amount of time they’re putting in and the amount of movement or progress that they’re seeing that can be really defeating." -Steph Smith
4. Take risks.
Not the kind that endangers your safety, but the kind that pushes you to grow and explore new opportunities that can positively shape both your personal and professional life.
You’re at a stage right now where you’re young enough to take risks—whether it's switching career paths, finding the people you want to surround yourself with, or investing in the things that matter to you.
Now is the time to embrace uncertainty and step out of your comfort zone in the hopes that you will find what is most fulfilling and rewarding to you. At the very least, you are entitled to figure out what you want in life, and this is one way to get a head start.
5. Don’t forget about the bigger picture.
In the TV series Orange Is the New Black, there’s one episode that dives into the lore behind a mysterious chicken that made prison legend as a prize to be caught and turned into a delicious meal. Watching this episode made me consider how something that seems so trivial can become a source of both camaraderie and conflict to the people who choose to obsess over it.
This same idea exists in college.
No, there isn’t necessarily a chicken running loose on your campus grounds. But there are many, many trivial things that will pop up throughout your time in school that will deplete your mental energy and distract you from the things that truly matter to you. Don’t pour yourself into those things.
College is just one blip on your timeline. Make it count, but remember that nothing is ever the be-all and end-all. If you feel like you’re being pulled in a direction you don’t want to go in—whether it’s academic, professional, or social—don’t be afraid to take a step back, re-evaluate where you’re at, and remind yourself of the goals you’re trying to reach and the values you hold. Doing that will set you back on the course that’s right for you.
