I swear college is a social experiment.
You throw a bunch of 18-year-olds who don’t know what to do with their life in a school they’re paying a fortune for and make them figure out exactly what they want to do with the rest of their lives.
Oh yeah, you also rip them away from their only support system they’ve ever known.
It truly feels like cruel and unusual punishment, but most people do it and survive, including me.
I won’t say it hasn’t been hard, but I’ve learned how to not only survive college, but thrive.
As I enter my senior year at Millikin, I have decided it would be fitting to compile some good advice to help younger students thrive in this social experiment.
1. Say yes to things.
This is incredibly generic, but it is a critical piece of advice. Taking chances and saying yes to opportunities has introduced me to some of my best friends and led me to some of my best experiences, but don’t just blindly say yes to everything. If a friend asks you to go swimming in Lake Decatur, maybe don’t do that, but if they ask you to join a club with them and you have the time, do it!
The bottom line is: make smart decisions.
Saying yes gets you out of your comfort zone and makes your college life worth living. Don’t spend the next four years going to class, going home, and rotting in bed.
2. Don’t overcommit yourself.
Overcommitting is easy at Millikin. There are so many amazing performance learning opportunities around campus, and sometimes you can’t pick just one, so you pick them all.
Take this as your warning to say yes after you assess your bandwidth. I have seen many students too busy to eat because they have classes to attend, meetings to run, events to plan, and performances to prepare for.
Bite off only as much as you can chew.
3. For the love of God, go to classes.
Millikin may be a small school, but a majority of the classes offered here will help you in your future in one way or another.
Even if you don’t think a class will help you, take a chance. As an English major, I have taken computer science, web design, design, and marketing classes, and somehow they all taught me something valuable I will likely use in the future.
Going to classes can also help you make friends. If you are in a smaller major, you usually travel from class to class with your peers. Take that chance to make connections.
4. Take that mental health day.
Mental health days are abused, but sometimes they are extremely needed.
This advice also involves major discretion.
Don’t take a mental health day if you truly don’t think it will help you.
My rule is that if I don’t think a day of self-care and self-love will help me, then I don’t really need it.
Skipping classes usually makes my mental health worse, so the pros have to outweigh the cons.
But this will vary from person to person. You have to learn about yourself, figure out your limits, and learn how to support yourself correctly.
5. Don’t touch the M.
People do not rub the M outside of Shilling for good luck; they pee on it.
If someone ever tries to be funny and tells you to touch it, don’t even think about it.
6. Talk to your professors.
Millikin professors are some of the smartest people you will know. I love getting to know who my professors are; it’s one of my favorite parts of class.
By getting close with some of my professors and showcasing my skills in class, I have received many performance learning opportunities.
Regardless of whether you are seeking opportunities to further yourself in your career, it’s good practice to remember your professors are real people, too.
7. Give yourself some grace.
You will not be 100% perfect throughout your years at Millikin.
Let that soak in.
You will not be 100% perfect throughout your years at Millikin.
I’m talking to you, perfectionists and honors students.
You cannot be perfect, and if you are, I will assume you have no life. Not every assignment will be your best work, you will forget to do an assignment, and you will not always get a 100%.
Give yourself some grace and realize that failing (or not getting a perfect grade) will help you learn more.
Never look at the negative feedback on your paper or project as an attack; see it as a way to grow.
8. Take time to get to know yourself.
College is the time for self-discovery, so get to know yourself. Even as a senior, I find myself learning more about my morals and exploring the person I want to be.
Are you someone who goes to a party and walks people home?
Are you someone who wants to be a leader in the classroom and extracurricular activities?
Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
I came into college not knowing the answer to any of these questions, and now I do.
I am not leaving Millikin with a full understanding of who I am and who I want to become, specifically, but I have a much better understanding.
9. Inconvenience yourself for others.
Rotting in bed whenever you have free time is easy. Blowing your friends off and not going to their events is easy, too.
Do yourself a favor and inconvenience your comfort. There is an event your friend is hosting, and you have free time, but you don’t want to go?
Go anyways.
They will appreciate your attendance. It always makes me feel better when there is a friendly face in the crowd of people at an event I’m being honored at or hosting.
10. Remember, college isn’t forever.
I’m ending this list with another cliche piece of advice, but it is important.
Most people are here for 3-5 years, and usually it’s only four years.
That is not a long time at all.
Make your time at college count. Make mistakes, make friends, make enemies, figure out who you are, figure out who you don’t want to be, and do all of the things!
After college, you are going to get thrown into the real world, and people are not as forgiving as your professors and peers, who are usually going through similar experiences.
This list of advice may not be for everyone, but I am writing this from experience. I was once a commuter freshman struggling to make friends, a sophomore struggling with grief and creating boundaries, and a junior who loved her bed too much.
All of this comes from my learned experiences, except number five; I have never touched the M.
Just remember to make the most of your time at Millikin. You’ll thank yourself later if you do.
