Getting to college is just the first step. All those hours looking up in the internet for college choices and filling out application forms is just the beginning. All those days and nights agonizing over your personal statement essay, doing self-assessments, and talking to your college counsellor in high school form the initial steps of college. Worrying about financial aid, talking to your parents for financial support, and scraping together some money you made from your part time job are just the initial stages of college.
Getting into college is one thing. Being in college, staying in college, and graduating are totally different things. Being successful during college should be your key mission once you get that fat envelope in the mail. Starting college right can help you succeed not just in school but in your life in general. Follow these tips so you can start college off on the right foot and build the right mindset and attitude to set you up for college success, and (more importantly) success in life.
Be on time all the time
You can tell a lot about a person if they show up on time or not. A person that does not show up on time is more likely not taking their appointment seriously. Also, this person may not take time management very seriously. In this day and age, time is more important than money because time can be converted into money and many other things. That’s how important time is. So, if you want to succeed in your college life and also in your career, and personal life, you have to give time a lot of importance. Always show up on time. Your ability to show up on time plays an important role in management promotions because it shows your superiors whether you’re a professional or not. Being on time is that important.
The importance of balance
Manage your time so you can have balance in college life. Believe it or not, college is probably going to be the first time but definitely not the last time you will be challenged regarding your time management. Time management and life balance are the two most important components of success in life. I don’t know what your definition of success is. Many people would be happy just having a family and regular job. Some people would be happy climbing the corporate ladder. Others want to own their successful business and so on and so forth. What they all have in common is the ability to manage and achieve balance. Unhappy and stressed people shared the fact that they don’t know how to manage their time and achieve some sort of balance. The things that you’re balancing are your studies, your work, rest, and your recreation. You have to balance these things because when you graduate from college you will also include in the mix your family, your career, and other aspects of your life. So, it’s very important to learn the skills on how to achieve balance immediately during your first few semesters in college.
One key element to balance is mental balance. A lot of people overlook this. Do you want to know why some people get promoted and reach the heights of their careers while others tend to toil at the bottom of organizations or social groupings and drag on from one day to another? The difference is mental balance. We’re not talking psychiatry or psychochemical balance here.
That’s another matter entirely. We’re talking about the ability to achieve an inner calm and inner focus while things are changing all around you. That’s what’s your life going to be after college. Things are always going to be in a swirl around you and the test is whether you can remain calmed and focused on your goals while all these changes are happening. You will learn how to do this and be given a lot of opportunities to learn this skill in college. Mental balance is the key whether you’re juggling a relationship, career, children, or if you’re dealing with drama from work, home, or wherever. It’s all about mental balance and one key element of this is spiritual discipline.
College is a great place to learn mental balance. If you master it, you will achieve the highest heights that life has to offer. That statement did not come from Hallmark. It’s not a joke, nor a cliché. It’s real. Just look at the biographies of many successful people – world changers like Bill Gates and other people. While many dropped out, they still became successful because they had achieved mental balance. Keep that trait in mind and learn it and incorporate it in your system to achieve success.
Money management
In addition to mental balance, money management is also a key trait that you need to learn and master while in college. Back in high school and junior high, your mom and dad took care of your finance –either giving you a debit card, cedit card, or fixed allowance. Regardless, finances were handled by your parents. Now with college, they’re still probably funding you, or your financial aid, but you have more freedom and this is where the challenge lies.
The farther you are away from people that would impose discipline on you, namely your parents, the more challenging it gets because there’s just so many things you can spend your money on. If you develop the wrong habits in college it can really mess you up later in life.
There are many people that develop bad financial habits so that they are always in debt in later life. No matter how much money goes through their hands, they are always in debt. They can never really fully enjoy what life has to offer because if you are in debt, it means you are slave to money because you have to pay for the money you spent in the past. It’s that bad. That’s why it’s important during your first few semesters in college to get a bead on how to manage your finances well because this will mean the difference between your friends that have houses after four or five years after college, and your other friends that never get to own a house or a fancy car.
In the United States, you don’t really need a fancy job to get a nice house or a nice car. You just need a good money management because there are many cases of people that make minimum wage but have decent houses and a decent cars. It can be done. It’s all about money management. It may not be the case in other countries, but this is America we’re talking about. It can be done. Just learn the skills to do it.
The Bottom Line
People look at college in their minds as just an obvious school of learning academic information. It’s more than that. It’s a school where you learn about life, about yourself, and most importantly, about the skills that will help you navigate this huge maze that is life. You have to look at college that way. Always experiment, be open-minded, and have the eager spirit to learn the right skills and you will end up in great places in life. You will be able to help a lot of people and you will live the life that you were put on this earth for.
About the Author
Professional writer, blogger, and personal statement examples specialist Chris Walker wrote this guest post. He helps college students get into law school, graduate school, medical school, MBA programs, and other academic programs through high quality personal statement essays. You can get in touch with Chris at http://www.ivyresearch.com, the Internet's leading admissions essays provider. You can also email him at http://scr.im/chriswalker
