avatarAdarsh Tiwari

Summary

The article urges college students to foster personal growth, explore professional skills, and embrace travels to maximize their opportunities and success.

Abstract

The author offers three key strategies for making the most out of a college experience, emphasising the importance of breaking beyond a high school mindset, acquiring new abilities each semester, such as app development or video editing, and incorporating personal growth through exploration and engagement in diverse experiences. Contrary to the popular notion, it suggests that grades are secondary to the skills and knowledge gained outside the classroom and encourages students to network, monetize new skills, and travel while maintaining a balance that fulfills academic responsibilities to parents and personal enrichment.

Opinions

  • The author admits to having wasted early college years without personal growth or skill development, inspiring others to avoid similar regrets.
  • There is an emphasis on the importance of self-learning and practical skills which are not covered in traditional college curricula, suggesting that formal education alone is insufficient for future success.
  • A strong recommendation is made for students to break away from the dependency on academic authority figures and to start valuing the flexibility and resources available in college to expand their horizons.
  • The article downplays the significance of grades, suggesting that life skills and experiences are equally, if not more, valuable than academic performance.
  • Travel is promoted as a way to build character, improve storytelling abilities, and teach practical life skills such as budgeting and social interactions.
  • The author advocates for a balance between academic studies and extracurricular skill development, acknowledging parental expectations and the reality that one must sometimes engage in activities that are not of primary interest.

3 simple tips every college student should use to increase their chances of success

Your peers won’t recognise you after this 🤫

Photo by Sam Balye on Unsplash

Throughout my 3 years of graduation, I sat on the sidelines.

Towards the end of my college tenure, I realised how I’d wasted my 3 years and what I could have done instead. I discovered the importance of:

  • Breaking out of my fixed mindset
  • Leveraging the digital economy
  • Building my overall personality

If you’re in college, just like I was 2 years ago, let me help you maximize your college days and live them to the fullest.

Now that I recall my college days, I never learned anything valuable. I didn’t invest in myself. I do have lots of great memories and I don’t regret them. It’s just that I wasn’t conscious enough of the resources at my disposal I could make use of.

I started doing everything I should’ve done during college after I graduated from college and got my first job. And that’s the beauty of being young. It’s never too late.

But I want to make sure you don’t look back at your time in college and realise all the great things you should’ve done but didn’t.

A word of caution:

Although I insist you follow the three tips I’ll mention below, don’t forget the most important part of your college life — Enjoy the f**k out of it.

Arrange night outs, indulge in your favourite pranks, show up drunk for classes, get suspended, come back and repeat it all over again. Do whatever floats your boat.

Don’t hold back on the joy. Make friends, arrange trips, have fun and make memories that will last forever.

Let’s dive in.

Tip #1 — Break out of your school mindset:

During the first few months of graduation, I struggled to find the environment I had in high school. Trying to find “my people”, religiously following the subject syllabus, being afraid to speak up etc.

Once I was accidentally exposed to a student who started earning from the first year of graduation via an internship. I had never heard what an internship was. I was shocked! Right then and there it hit me.

You need to shred the personality that you developed during high school.

Your high school attitude won’t cut it during your college education.

When I say “high-school attitude” I refer to:

  • The habit of over-reliance on the school authorities to learn skills
  • Sticking to the syllabus provided by the college
  • Hanging out with people who are just like you

There’s nothing wrong with doing these things until you’re in high school.

College systems offer enhanced flexibility and you need to leverage it. Unlike high school, no one is monitoring you or even bothered about what you’re up to unless you score well.

Take advantage of this freedom to break out of your high school mindset.

As a college student, you need to:

  • Think beyond your syllabus (more on that in the second tip)
  • Build relationships with people who are different than you.
  • Don’t pay attention to your grades any more than you need to.

Tip #2 — Explore one new skill every semester:

College is the perfect time to start your self-learning journey. It’s high time you realise the skills required for sustaining in the real world are not mentioned in your syllabus.

I started doing this after I got my first job out of college. Not too late but still.

If there’s anything you take away from this article, it’s this — Learn at least one new skill every semester. It can be anything, as long as it interests you.

Don’t limit yourself to the major you’re pursuing. Feel free to explore out of your major.

Just make your the skill you learn is practical and can be applied to solve a problem.

A few skills to consider (to get you out of decision-making hell): App Development Video Editing Digital Marketing Baking Copywriting Working with emerging AI Tools

Leverage free tutorials on YouTube or invest in any course of your choice.

Just start learning.

Here’s a mini-roadmap:

  • Pick a skill, search for free tutorials on YouTube and start learning from day one of each semester.
  • Invest at least 1 hour on weekdays and 2 hours on weekends.
  • Make a few simple projects on your own.

Want to go one step further?

Once you’re comfortable with the skill (following the steps above), start finding ways you can monetize your newly acquired skill in the next semester.

Suppose you learned video editing in semester one. After months of learning and practising, you’re comfortable implementing the skill, it’ll be the end of the semester.

Once the second semester begins, you want to start learning your next new skill but we don’t want our skill from the previous month to go to waste right? So we start searching ways for how you can monetize your previous skill.

The intent of this monetization step is to not earn money (although you should). It is an exercise to make you realise the earning potential of your skill. There are people out in the real world who will pay you, a college student, to benefit from your skill.

This realisation will do wonders for your confidence and reduce your reliance on the education system to set you up for success.

Exploring one skill each semester will not only expand your horizon of knowledge, it might just help you find your “passion”.

I’m ok if you don’t read any further. Just implement this one tip.

Please don’t be discouraged to start this exercise from your second, third or even fourth semester. The best time is now!

Tip #3 — Travel as much as possible:

Get out of your comfort zone. Go out and explore your city, your state and your country.

Organize trips with your friends or family and travel as much as possible.

Travelling will help you:

  • Unwind from your busy college schedule
  • Challenge your personality by putting you in unknown situations.
  • Make you a better storyteller.
  • Attain some real-world, invaluable skills like budgeting and talking to strangers.

Don’t stress it in terms of the budget. If you cannot travel to another state, travel to another city. If not another city, then explore your own city.

Travel as much as possible.

Bonus tip: Although your grades really don’t matter, don’t compromise your studies. You’re answerable to your parents. They don’t understand this “grades don’t matter” ideology and you shouldn’t expect them to cope with this. Study and be done with it. If the subjects align with your interests, congratulations. If not, even better. You’ll get to learn early on in life about how to do the things you hate (psst, life is filled with such things).

Conclusion:

In essence, college is more than your chosen major; it’s a realm of possibilities waiting to be explored.

Break free from the high school mindset, embrace flexibility, and build diverse relationships.

Each semester, add a new skill to your repertoire, unleashing your potential beyond the curriculum.

Finally, don’t miss the chance to travel — whether to another city or country, the experiences will enrich your life.

College is a canvas; make sure your brush touches every corner. Cheers to making the most of these transformative years.

Until next time!

I started a newsletter which is very different from the content I write on medium. Check it out here

College
Student Life
Skills
Growth Mindset
Recommended from ReadMedium
avatarDovie Nguyen
The True Value of Being “Educated”

The journey of finding yourself in ‘Educated’ by Tara Westover

7 min read
avatarSyed Noorulla
3 Secrets To Reading More

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”

2 min read
avatarRon Markley
Writing Is the Best Skill to Make Money in 2024

3 Steps to Start Writing Online (Without a Headache)

3 min read
avatarAlexander Nguyen
The resume that got a software engineer a $300,000 job at Google.

1-page. Well-formatted.

4 min read
avatarsmoul
Time Will Pass Anyways

Make Life Happen

4 min read
avatarAbinav
I Tried 5 Life-Changing Habits and All I Got Was This Article

“The road to success is paved with broken alarm clocks and half-finished journals.”

4 min read