Dear Underclassmen…
Written by: Laura Prajzner
Did you peak in high school? Me neither. From breaking up with your high school boyfriend to organizing your classwork in a spreadsheet, grab your bullet journals and take notes from the upperclassmen of Drexel University. We are bringing you the certified TOP SECRET hacks to doing college right.
Surviving the Transition
Go to class, don’t skip. Schedule your classes in a way where you’ll be able to wake up and make it to them.
Organize all your assignments and due dates in a spreadsheet at the beginning of the semester! It can be tedious but is soooo lifesaving when you need to keep track of things. A planner or to-do list will save your life.
Always have a snack bin.
Buy laundry machine cleaner.
Don’t be afraid to join clubs or try new activities! You can always drop it if you don’t like it, but at least you tried.
Don’t bring those high school t-shirts… You will not wear them.
Please eat some vegetables!
Surviving Campus
Don’t buy a lanyard. Point blank. But if you do, don’t weigh it down with five hundred different keychains.
Get the bagels from Urban.
Don’t be shy.
Don’t live in UCross, but if you do, at least get the room with windows.
It’s okay not to go out every weekend.
Learn how to cook. It’s fun, we promise!
It’s okay not to be done in 4 years. Take your time and get everything out of the experience.
Enjoy your time at college; a grade is just a number. It does not determine your worth.
On Relationships
You’re not destined to be best friends with your freshman year roommates (or any friends you make in the first three months). Don’t force any friendships… Do what you want!
Break up with your high school boyfriend.
Don’t date a frat boy.
Your professors are people, too, so talk to them!
Don’t let your college relationship hold you back from doing the things you want to do .
On Life
Be prepared for your plans to change and adapt to your changing environments.
Be cognizant of how your ego can distract you from achieving your goals.
Stop worrying so much about the future. Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.
If you’re contemplating a decision – JUST DO IT!
Follow your path... Make decisions based on what’s beneficial to your future. Switch majors if you want!
Take things day by day.
You have the power to create the reality you want to experience . Make a vision board and make that sh*t happen!
You don’t need to know what you’re going to do for the rest of your life, yet.
And so, the next four most formative years of your life begin. You will not leave college the same as you found it. The individual you are now is not who you should leave as. Prepare yourself to take a complete 180 spin into a brand-new character. Let’s be real: change is hard and is a gigantic pill to swallow. Not everyone you meet will one hundred percent have your back, and you will recover from that. You will find your people, your passions, your goals. However, this is not a straight and narrow path. You will stumble, and you will find it difficult to always determine what should be your top priority. Some days you won’t have any time to do laundry or grocery shop, and you’ll be on your fifth day of no clean socks and eating buttered toast for dinner yet again. But that could be the same day you meet a friend or become inspired by one of your professors. How’s that for a win?
I think that is what college is all about — learning to adult and counting even the smallest of wins. Those wins add up to the grand accomplishments that end up on your resume. And that resume will take you to places you never thought you would end up. Who knows, you could travel to New York for your co-op and live out your Devil Wears Prada dreams. The to-do list that you make every morning, your journal entries at night that reflect on the struggles you went through, the emails you are waiting for to flow into your inbox, the portfolio you build, the projects you stay up until the early morning to complete, the test you swear you prepared for enough but did not — all these add up to your foundation as a young professional. You will learn skills in the most unusual ways and hopefully meet them with the most open-minded response. You will try your best at something, and you will fail. You will not please everyone because you are not meant to. You are not meant to settle or be subtle.
As someone who would consider herself a bit of a “people-pleaser” in high school and into the first year of college, I can confidently say as a senior that I have built the strength to be confident in myself and who I have worked myself into being. Put in the work for your younger self. The small wins of today are the foundation for a perfect interview anecdote that will land you in the hands of your dream job. You are about to embark on the most exciting four years filled with so much turbulence, but all of it is exciting. Be selfish but kind; be humble but confident; be brave but empathetic.
What is the best advice that I can possibly give you? Don’t forget to take care of yourself.