Foolproof ways to ruin your college experience

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By Ashley McClung

So, your classes are scheduled, your fee bill is paid, and your schoolbag is packed. Now what are you supposed to be doing for the next four years? What will you be prepared to do after that? Being a college student comes with a lot of questions and even more decisions.

Pick a major. Get a job. Bring up your grades. Keep your eyes on graduation. Make new friends. Have some fun. How do you know if you’re doing it all right? That I can’t tell you. What I can do, is point out a few ways to do it all wrong.

1. Swear loyalty to your major. Let’s face it. Every college student feels the pressure of declaring a major. So you pick something, take a few classes, and realize it’s not for you. Change it. You’re hesitant because you’ve already invested so many hours into classes that won’t count toward your new major. Your graduation could be pushed back an entire semester to meet all the new qualifications.

Change it. Those few wasted hours or even months won’t matter at all once you make it to graduation. What will matter is the degree you’ve obtained. If you didn’t like the introductory classes, are you really going to like the job you’ll be stuck with?

2. Bite your tongue. This goes for speaking up in class discussion, speaking with professors after class, inquiring about financial aid and even making new friends. LSU can be an overwhelming place your freshman year, especially if you are coming from a small town.

You may be tempted to lay low and avoid confrontation or unnecessary hassles, thinking you’ve got enough on your hands just making it through class. Fight that urge. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know. Just putting your thoughts into words could mean a better grade, a scholarship offer, or a friend that could last a lifetime.

3. Work every hour you aren’t in class. Yes, paying your electric bill, stocking your refrigerator and hitting the mall every now and then are all very important, but so is having time to yourself. Allow yourself some time when you aren’t scheduled to be in class or at work to study, catch up with friends, attend club meetings or simply recuperate from the daily rush.

4. Always follow the party. I know it’s hard to be surrounded by so many bars and entertainment venues and not go out every time your phone rings with an invite, but sometimes it’s necessary. The bars aren’t going anywhere. The drinks will still be there tomorrow, and chances are your friends will be there too. Your morning test, on the other hand, you can only take once, and it could permanently affect your GPA.

5. Never follow the party. The other end of the spectrum. While a test you can only take once, your class will be waiting for you two or three times a week, every week, until the end of the semester. Not every class is grade altering. If all your friends are getting together and you don’t have anything major in the morning, it can’t hurt to go. It’s true what they say. Years from now you won’t remember everything you learned in class (or how many times you fell asleep in lecture the next morning), but you will remember the times you shared with friends.

Originally Published: Issue 701 - August 19, 2008

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