My younger sister Yetta, (have I told you the story about why I call her Yetta?) is off to college this August (yes I am totally freaking out about this). For months now, I have been racking my brain trying to figure out the perfect gift to give her for graduation. Last week, I came up with the perfect idea (via Real Simple Magazine).
And Internet, I NEED YOUR HELP!
I am creating a book full of "Things I wish I had known in College or when I was 18" or "Life Lessons that would be awesome in a book for Julie's Seestah".
For example, the first thing that I could think of was, "Sometimes its not worth going to class if you're just going to sleep through it".
Yetta's party is on Sunday and I am off to NYC on Saturday (July 12th) morning. So please give me your advice by then. I would really really appreciate it.
Leave it in the comments or e-mail them to me.
7.06.2008
Life 101: Enlisting Your Help!
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22 comments:
Find groups to join, some of these people could be lifelong friends.
If the textbook for the class costs an arm and a leg, find out if the instructor will be using it often or just a few sections. If it's the latter, either buy it and copy the needed sections and return it or find other people in class to share the book and the cost with.
Never schedule an 8:00AM class,
Buy a pair of flip flops for the shower
Join a club or sports team
Make sure your parents give you laundry money
The first night at school is really tough, but you'll love college so much the last night will be even worse (but in a good way)
Make a point of finding friends, people you really connect with, they will be the ones who carry you through the hard times and share the great ones from that point forward. Also, don't rack up huge credit card debt for pizza, you won't remember the pizza but will spend a long time paying it off.
If you happen to find yourself in a writing class with 10 papers due in 10 weeks, none of them with firm deadlines, don't wait until the last week to write them all.
Hey, welcome back!
Like I told my sister when she started college:
1. Use any means necessary to graduate with NO credit card debt.
2. If you have a class, go to it.
3. Try your best to do schoolwork from 9:00 to 5:00 every weekday. Try to party on every weekend, regardless of homework.
4. Don't touch boys, they're icky.
If you don't find the club you are looking for, start one of your own.
Just because it is all you can eat in the dining hall, doesn't mean you should actually eat all you can. Trust me.
That being said, greasy breakfast foods taste divine at 2:00 am while you are drunk after a frat party.
DO NOT stress over what you will do after graduation. Seriously, it will all work out.
Study hard, but don't let it get in the way of your fun.
Spend as much time as you can with friends because after graduation everyone goes their separate ways and believe me, you will miss them like hell.
Textbooks - buy 'em secondhand if possible, copy them off a classmate OR make sure you sell them at the end. Biggest waste of moolah EVER.
Make friends with the cafeteria staff. They'll always make you the best coffee. :)
something like this...
Boys are usually lame until at least age 25, so spend most of your college years cultivating lifelong friendships with your girlfriends.
Out of three dining hall meals per day, make sure at least one of them is a healthy salad.
Take classes outside of your major - and not for easy credit. Find something you're uncomfortable with and try it.
Try new things! It's the best way to find out what you really will be happy doing.
Don't freak out about choosing a major. You'll find one you're happy with. Besides, most people change careers multiple times after they graduate.
Take early classes. Being stuck in class at 4 in the afternoon sucks more than you think it will.
Even if your not driving, have a designated nondrinker. This person is responsible from making sure no one does anything too stupid or dangerous out at the bars.
Speak up. College is a great place to share you opinions...and to learn what your opinions really are.
Have fun and be safe!
Bring ear plugs if you are going to have a room mate
The REALLY gorgeous guys are usually gay!
Tell her to, in the end, not worry too much about all of the advice she's getting and just to do what makes her happy. Within reason.
Oh and tell her to avoid crystal meth.
choose your major based on your interests - not on what you think you want to be when you "grow up".
Seriously - join a group. Make friends in classes. Date. Step outside of your boundaries and try something that isn't "you."
I started to respond, and then I kept writing and writing and writing. So I ixnayed the comment and turned it into a post instead. Come check it out!
Great idea, by the way.
Don't worry about choosing a major that's "practical" or that sounds good on paper. Take the classes you want to take, avoid the ones you hate, and come up with a really good line to give the people that will ask "what are you going to do with THAT?"
Good luck!!
Date. A lot. It will cut down on your grocery bill.
Never choose a room-mate who works in fast food, your apartment will smell like stale grease ALL. THE. TIME.
Studying isn't all that bad.
Great idea!
My idea is: "If someone isn't being a good friend (or boyfriend) to you, don't put up with it. You can stand up for yourself without being mean, without causing drama and without fear. Have high standards for how you expect to be treated. If you don't, no one else will."
what a great gift idea, i love it.
and i think one of the best things is "embrace free concerts." i went to a lot of free lectures and concerts on campus and it was amazing. i miss those things a lot.
1. No matter how much your friends dare you, do not jump in the campus pond/lagoon. Campus police watch for idiots like you every night.
2. It is ok to skip classes once in a while, but don't make it a habit.
3. In relation to #2 - if you have slacked off so much that it is pointless, try to drop the class before the deadline. If after deadline, just stop going, you are already failing.
4. Even if you look a lot like your friend who is 21, do not use her ID on the same night at the same bar.
5. Math is overrated.
6. So is Speech.
7. Find the local pizza place that ahs a late night special for those late drunk nights.
8. Flip flops are a must in the dorms.
9. Make friends with your RA (if you live in a dorm) - it will benefit you in the long run.
From my (alleged) blawg.. June 2, 2007
Random thoughts. The future is yours. Here's how to live happily.
Random thoughts for tonight's graduates at Hilton Head Island High School as they start a new life:
• Don't use credit cards.
• Your parents didn't start out with what they have today.
• Give back to your high school. Our community needs stronger roots. That's you.
• Have a bit of your paycheck sent directly into a rainy-day savings account. That's in addition to the 401(k). As they say, "Pay yourself first."
• Do what Dave Ramsey (www.daveramsey.com) says: "Act your wage."
• There is much greater peace and satisfaction in saying, "I'm sorry, I can't afford that right now" than there is in juggling debt.
• Read "The Millionaire Next Door."
• Don't be anonymous. Don't say things without attaching your name and reputation to it.
• Think about your reputation.
• Act like you've got a mother.
• The biggest threat in the world is not nuclear bombs. It's selfishness. And that's something you can actually fix if you try hard enough.
• Being cool isn't really cool. A cool guy I ran with in high school was killed recently in a shoot-out with cops in a suburban discount store. Way cool, huh?
• Every professor and every boss is weird. Get over it.
• Don't gossip at work.
• Take solutions to your boss, not problems.
• Find your own ways to buck it up when you're down. Maybe it's wearing a nice shirt or dress.
• Baring all on a MySpace page is a bad idea.
• Old sayings are old sayings for a good reason. You do only get one chance to make a first impression. It is better to give than receive. And honesty is the best policy.
• If somebody cares enough about you to live with you, they should care enough about you to marry you.
• Why waste money on a wedding? Invest it in your first home.
• Use the high-tech device everyone overlooks: The "off" button.
• Don't whine. No matter what your race, creed, gender or ethnicity, you've been given a chance to hit the ball slap out of the park.
• A good motto: "It's up to me."
• Not many people are going to appreciate your brilliance. Don't let it get you down.
• You're going to need a close relationship with a Higher Power.
• Possessions, fame and wealth are a piece of cake compared to what will really bring you happiness: Forgiveness.
• Leave it better than you found it.
• Mind your own business.
• Be a contributor.
• Don't wish your life away.
• Don't borrow things.
• When lost, enjoy the scenery.
• Always tell the truth.
• Don't be common.
• Say "please," "thank you," "ma'am," and "sir."
• And remember that a lot of people helped you get this far. Pay them back with good choices.
Sorry I'm late to the party. But in case I'm not too late:
--Convince your dorm kitchen to make every day grilled cheese day.
--Don't have an off-campus boyfriend who you spend all your time with instead of getting to know the people in your dorm. When the two of you break up late in the year, you're not going to have anyone to hang out with at the dorms.
--nobody said you had to be showered (or even out of your jammies) at your 8:00 classes.
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