Tips I give to every new college student

It’s September. A new study year starts. And a new batch of new college students just starts the adventure of a lifetime. Are you one of those? If so, just get along and start this new year with the top tips to have the best college experience ever:

Spoiler alert: it’s not where to get free alcohol! I’m going to be very true to you, I would love to have these tips when I went through college. So I hope they will help you feel and be a better and happier college student than me. I can imagine how nervous and excited you are right now. It’s like the world is opening up and everything is becoming more available to you. All the parties, the moving out of the parent’s place, the freedom, all the new people you will be meeting. Everything is a possibility. I know! It’s so exciting, right? So, let’s remember that, don’t forget that feeling! Just add to it, by going through the tips below:

Read Faz o Curso na Maior

This is a Portuguese book. I read it while I was in college, at the time the book came out. I loved it. Filmed a review and was asked to present it at the Lisbon Book Fair of that year. If you’re Portuguese, I would totally recommend this book. It’s short, sweet, and direct to the point. Exactly what you need to get your college degree done while having fun. If you’re not Portuguese, look for a similar book that would give you tips on how to easily do your college degree. Or better, a mentor!

Don’t miss more than one class in a row

That’s a big tip. From a person that didn’t keep it. I was bad with morning classes. Very bad. You wake up, after a night of binge-watching Netflix and the last thing you want to do is wake up and go to that boring class. Let’s just miss it and go to the exam. Wrong! This is the way you find yourself with too many exams that you can chew in an exam season when you can save yourself the trouble and just pass the subject going to the classes. Just save yourself the misery. Try to pass as many subjects as possible by going to the classes.

Don’t get into the routine of missing classes

Well, I explained it mostly above, but the worst you can do, after skipping more than one class in a row, it’s getting into the routine of doing it. I started doing that, as I mentioned, by choosing to stay in bed for one day or the other. The problem gets even worse when you decide to not go to the class regularly. Not only do you miss the chance to pass the class without the exam (if the subject permits it), you also will be marked by the professor. And I assure you: they will remember you when you came into their classroom for the exam, or worst, in the last few classes before it. Plus: you will lose all the material and useful information the professor will provide for you to nail that exam. Not everything is in the notebooks of old students, the professor can choose to change the whole exam in that year and leave you pain and dry. For these reasons and more: don’t do it. If you can change subjects, do it. If you can change professors because you don’t enjoy the way that professor teach, do it. But if you can’t do either and you need that subject to finish your degree, just eat the frog and go to the classes. If you think going to classes is boring, imagine going every day to a workplace you hate! Go to classes, guys, so you can live your dream life after you graduate! #Goal

READ MORE: #Liveyourdreamlife: How to change your mindset to have the life you truly desire

Don’t give up if you really see yourself working in that field

That’s the second tip I give when I talk with a college student that it’s not feeling very motivated: “do you see yourself working in that field? Does that excite you?”. If the answer is yes, I know you chose the right college degree, so just don’t give up! Don’t give up on that idea, that image. Keep it close to you! Follow people that work in the field, that are already living your dream life, surround yourself with that inspiration.

Study something you really enjoy

If you read my article on How to choose the right college degree, you already know this, but the biggest thing of your college life should be to study something you really enjoy or have a huge curiosity about. If you have that, your college experience will be so much easier! So, if you are still able to choose your subjects at this point, do it. Choose something you will enjoy. And get the most out of that experience. I had a class in my college degree that was Advertising and Marketing (or something like that), I was so curious about the subject that I took every class as an opportunity to learn the most I could. It will not surprise you that I was one of the best students in class, but I actually took it one step high. I used the class projects to learn and improve on the marketing of my personal projects (my blog at the time), I brainstormed new ideas to use later, and I didn’t keep it there when the semester ended: I spend that summer learning more about it. Why? Because I was genuinely interested. You don’t need to be to that point, but be sure that, if you can, you choose something that lights that fire of wanting to know more inside of you.

You can always give up, if you really know it in your heart that it is the best thing

That’s a thing: it is true. You can always give up. And that is freeing. I did. My brother did. A lot of people I know did. You can always do it. So, breathe! It’s ok if you feel you’re not in the right place, that this is not for you, that you’re not happy. Because the thing is: you deserve to be happy. You need to be happy. I want you to be happy. So, if you’re not sure, neither motivated after all the things I’ve said above, please, do yourself a favor, and think if you should give up. Remember: when a window shuts, a door opens. If you don’t know this, it’s a Portuguese saying, and it means that: when an opportunity closes, another better will open. Be hopeful. Believe. You will find your place. And will be incredibly happy. You just need to believe and breathe. Everything will work out. 🙂 And if you find yourself thinking about changing courses, be sure to read this post first.

Inspire yourselves!

So, guys, after all, the above, one thing you will have to do, although I hope it’s on something you love: you will have to study. Yap. There is no way around it. Actually, I don’t know one profession when you don’t have to study for all your life. Of course is not in a classroom, with tests and exams, but you will have to keep learning, adapt, get better, update. So, I will give you the best tip I hoped was available while I was a student myself: inspire yourself by watching live study videos on Youtube! Yes, that’s a thing! And you can also watch Day in The Life of students from all over the world. My favorite channel to recommend to you is Ruby Granger, I love her! You can also find Live’s on Twitch, there’s a whole category about it. Past study time, I can always get into the Gilmore Girls. There is no better character to put you in the study mode than Rory Gilmore! There’s even a study with rory gilmore//aesthetic lofi music with pomodoro timer. How I wish I got into the Gilmore world in those years!

There you have it, my top tips for you my sweet new college students. I hope you have the best year of your life! Embrace it! Enjoy it! And study to #liveyourdreamlife!