Okay before we begin with this blog, two stories to set the background,
Shorter Story
I have been trying to write this blog for more than a month now but couldn’t manage my time. Finally, here it is!
Short Story
I am a member of IndiBlogger which is basically a forum for Indian bloggers and this was one of the featured topics that I wanted to take up and write a blog on. I did not go through any of the blogs written by other members on this topic to make sure that my thoughts are not influenced. So these are my unadulterated, 100% pure and virgin thoughts on what you need to be doing while you are in college.
I must admit, initially, I believed I am not even old enough to blog on this and *boom* the reality hit… its been 4 years since I have been out of the campus! That is worth an entire Engineering degree! Today, the undergrad college students that I know of are just way too young to be my friends. Rather, I am too old to be hanging out with them! Man, do I feel old right now! 😃
Anyways, enough of beating around the bush, below are the 5 things I believe you MUST take care of while in college,
1. Socialize, help people
Okay, not trying to impart a moral science lesson here but the one thing you need to take back from the campus is good relations with your classmates, seniors, juniors and professors. Today, you may meet all of them daily but once out of college the only times you would speak to them are when you need help on something be it a career decision, a reference for a job or vendor/customer contacts to set up your venture. Make sure you develop good relations with everyone and make a few lifelong friends.
2. It is okay not to be the class topper
You might have not learnt this in school because our education system tends to favor the class topper. We are made to believe that the class topper gets an admission in the best college and is most likely to succeed in life. But the reality is that the education system is designed to reward those with good ‘memory power’. Our exams are a test of our memory and not our understanding of concepts. So while having a good memory is fine but it might not be of much help in your professional career.
3. Find your ‘play’
You may have heard this already,
“Work is play”
College is the best time to make an effort to understand what your ‘play’ is. Being an Engineering student, you may end up in a job at some big IT company, but the question is, does coding excite you as much as cricket? Remember, a job is not like college, it won’t end in a few years. It is what you will be doing for the rest of your life so it better be something that excites you. Again, if you are a Marketing student and music excites you, you are probably at the wrong place. Also, give a thought if music will be good enough to pay your bills. Find and choose your ‘play’ wisely and be on top of it right after the graduation day.
A fantastic related blog on this topic here
4. Facebook ‘likes’ aren’t worth much
Getting tons of ‘likes’ on your facebook posts may define popularity in the college but the real World doesn’t work that way. Just like being a class topper isn’t a guarantee of anything, winning the “Most Popular Person in the College” award doesn’t help much either. So enjoy your popularity while it lasts but don’t take it too seriously, it won’t help once you step out of the campus.
5. Enjoy!
Yes! Enjoy your college life. Don’t waste your time reading those ‘life changing’ fat books or binge watching those foreign TV series, trust me you will have loads of time for them later. The college time isn’t coming back EVER. Period. You like that girl? Go approach her now! You want to spend the night on the city streets? Do that tonight! Your friends are planning a trip to Goa? Be onboard! Click as many pics as you can. Laugh loudly in the library and get barred for the entire semester! Break a few rules. Check out your college’s terrace. Be a part of every single college event. 10 years down the line, nobody remembers a boring lecture. And if boring lectures are all that you are doing in the college, you need to change today! (Here’s a video of me and three other engineering friends reminiscing our college days 😉)
Conclusion
Think about this, when you are done with your college and early 20s, you may end up in a distant city living alone in a studio apartment or with boring roommates that bond with you only because they don’t have their friends around too. In case you end up living with your parents, they, just like your relatives, might want you to get ‘settled’ soon. And even if you have a few of your college friends around, the World would expect you to behave like responsible grown ups and not college-going-kids!
PS – If I scared you, don’t worry, life isn’t all grey after college. You will definitely have great, great time. It’s just that no matter how much fun you have, you’ll go back to work on Mondays! 😜