Yeah. That one I had a beef with. I mean, if you're gonna base your personality on what people want you totally didn't fucking get the point of college.
In my opinion, high school was the worst shit ever. The kids were dicks. Bullies were everywhere. You're less able to explore and you leave it thinking that you know exactly who you are when in fact you have a LOT of growing up left to do.
College is a whole 'nother jungle, baby.
So I decided to try my hand at making my own list of tips and tricks to survive the jungle known as college.
It's not complete and I'm not sure if you'll find it useful but whatever. Also, this list is designed for Ateneo freshies so whatever.
Here it is.
1. Try new clothing. This is for those freshies who, like me, always wear just pants and shirts. I've been wearing pants and shirts my whole life and have only just recently realized in my senior year that wearing shorts is so much more comfortable. I feel as though I've suffered the heat of Manila summers innecessantly. And oh boy, did I suffer.
2. Don't let people tell you what you should be. As a freshie, the peer pressure and pressures from your parents will be absolutely tremendous. During my first year, it took me to dark places and I ended up resenting so many people. Ultimately, you're gonna have to find a way for you to ignore these influences and figure our who you wanna be. Know when people are starting to control you and then put a stop to it when you can.
3. Don't think that college is about work. If anything it's quite the opposite. My Pol Sci prof once told our class that college is your last reprieve from the real world of enforced monotony and non-creativeness. You don't go to college to be good at a certain job. Everything you need to know for your future job, you'll learn on your first days there. You go to college because you need to expand your goddamn mind. You need to explore ideas that will make you question who you are and why you do these things. You'll appreciate the amazing world of fiction and poetry. Philosophy will make you think about what it means to truly love.
4. Make sure to use your offline password for EBSCOHOST. It's an online database of millions of journal articles, studies and books that will prove invaluable to research. Amazingly, some people reach senior year without ever once utilizing it. Also, if you find that an article you want is not readily available in full PDF form on the site, use the document delivery service form the lib and the staff will email you a copy.
5. This may sound stupid as shit but take pictures! You'll get through the 4 (or 5) years fast and you'll need those pics to take you through the tough times. They'll remind you of your friends and a more innocent age.
6. Exercise your management skills! Become a leader at something. There are two types of people in this world, the shepards and the sheep. The sheep follow the shepard around and are stupid as shit while the shepherd takes the sheep wherever he wants to go and sometimes gets to fuck them when nobody's looking.
7. In spite of what you may believe, people don't give a shit about you as much as you think.
8. Learn how to drive and park anywhere.
I'm gonna blast through the rest of these now.
9. Don't eat fatty food. JSEC serves the fattiest food in all of Ateneo. Do not get trapped in that cycle. Seriously JSEC food administration, get your shit together.
10. Read about science news.
11. Start to look for something you're passionate about.
12. Think about what you wanna do with your life.
13. Be good to your friends.
14. Know who your friends are.
15. Take weights as your PE. It may sound tiring and painful but you will seriously tack on serious mass.
16. Be an honest person. Phonies are like... bad...
17. Don't go home right after classes. (This advice came from the 2010 ORSEM manual. I found this to be very useful especially if you have helicopter parents)
18. Don't be stupid. Always put on a condom.
19. Religion is such a first year issue. Move on to more important ideas.
20. Complain about profs that slack off.
21. Sanuks look like preppy shoes but they're not. You can dress like a cool kid but still be a surfer.
22. Join LFC. Films are so good for appreciating music, art, stories and life in general.
23. If you're bad at sports, be proud of it. Basketball players have been having it too easy for far too long.
24. Yeah seriously. Fuck basketball.
25. Get a tablet and learn how to design. A useful skill in any project. The world is evolving a taste in design. Bad promotions for orgs will not be looked upon with favor in this environment.
26. Move out of your comfort zone. You might find that some of your decisions were stupid but it's these decisions that define you.
27. Find a way to stay cool. The Philippines is a hot country if you hadn't already noticed.
28. Take walks. Ateneo is a beautiful place. You'll be amazed at all the things you'll find if you penetrate it deep enough.
29. Exercise. You may not appreciate it on your first two years of college but once you hit your 3rd and 2th year P.E. will be something you'll miss sorely. Without P.E. gaining weight is too easy.
30. Once again, document. Take pics of even the mundane days. Blog. Write a journal. Plot your journey. Everyone says it but college is fast. You're gonna wanna go back to these things.
I'm gonna end it here but hey if you have questions, leave a comment or something.
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