The College Blog

The 4.0 Challenge: Conquering laziness

2009-01-08T14:04:00.000-08:00

Finally, my first spring semester has come. I'm finally allowed to mend the wounds that fall semester created. I get another shot at curing laziness, which ultimately prevails no matter how much I plan on being organized and productive 24/7. I get a whole new set of classes, which present new assignments, new books, new teachers, new grades, new everything. I once again am allowed to wipe the slate clean and try again to get straight A's. We all begin determined to stay in every night and not waste our time doing pointless activities, such as surfing Youtube and Facebook, playing Halo or reading fun books. "I am not going to touch my computer or look at the TV until I've studied for at least a good portion of the night," we all start off telling ourselves. And then slowly through the semester it slips away and we end up saying things like, "Ah! The hell with it," and "Whatever, I'll just do it later/tomorrow."

Well, this semester, I think I, for once, am really going to crack down and try and reach goals that I set for myself at the beginning of every "slate wiping" without letting them slip down the tubes before may.

School presents many distractions for our easily entertained and curiously wandering minds. There are too many places to discover, too many people to see, too many things to do. And with all of this, we slowly develop responsibility. We learn that even though going out and hanging out with a group of people downtown does sound a lot better than writing a paper, a paper is necessary and your friends will probably be down there tomorrow night doing the same thing anyways, so you might as well be productive this one night in order to have fun the next. Or so all of our parents hope that we are learning of that thing called responsibility.

So, this next semester, I challenge all of those who are like myself; goal setting, but incredibly lazy, to crack down and finally grab that certain thing this semester that we have been proclaiming to attain since we learned that an A+ meant we got $5 from mom, or a night out to eat with the family, or a new video game from dad. I challenge you, as well as myself to be organized and strict about our school work... not over stressed and lacking pleasure from life, but strict.

I challenge you, as well as myself.

The Key to the Whole Roommate Thing: Be open minded!

2009-01-08T12:22:00.001-08:00

Living in a dorm and having a roommate. My biggest fears prior to actually going to college. It really wasn't the fear of the fact that I had to share a room with someone, or the worry that they would touch my belongings, and know the little tiny personality traits about me that only those that live with you find out about... it was the fear of the unknown. I didn't know who this person was or where they were coming from; what kind of family they had and who they hung out with back at home; what their interests were; political preference? Religious? Who this person actually WAS, who they wanted to be, and how they planned on getting there. It was all unknown to me. Was I going to get someone who was the complete opposite of myself? Did you? If you're not there yet, are you prepared to put up with anyone?

Well that's the key to it. The key to having a roommate; where your first encounter with this person might very well be in the room that you will most probably have to share for the next year of school... be open minded and excited for whatever is thrown at you. It's a scary thought, I know. Instead of asking yourself all these questions about their hobbies, their family, their religious or political preferences, etc. don't ask at all. These questions just scare you before you actually meet the person, and they do so pointlessly... I guarantee you wont find out who someone is by answering these questions by running a comb through their Facebook profile. So don't even try. My recommendation, if you are a prospective student to a University, is to call that person up when your housing assignment is posted, and have a conversation with them. Be more worried about showing them the true you than finding out all the possible problems you could find with them. Be open minded! Forget about Facebooking them, forget about making assumptions about who they and just wait until you get there. I promise they will show you the true them better than a web page online.

Worst comes to worst, you get there, look them in the face, spend the first week with them, and you realize absolutely everything they do drives you nuts; it's a possibility, yes... but should it happen, get right on it and let your Resident Assistant know, and they will help you take the first steps toward finding someone that you could stand living with. Don't let it wait. Don't spend too much time thinking, "Oh, I'll just get used to this person eventually." It will ruin one of the key parts of your freshman experience.

With my experience, I have learned that having a roommate has been one of the best experiences I've gone through so far. I was placed with someone that appeared to be very different than me on the surface level; politics, religion, he was very athletic, he was extremely smart, etc. but once I actually got in the room and spent some time hanging out with him, deep down, we are very similar and compatible, and finding out who he really was (is) has made me comfortable in my residence, and allowed me to get a really solid freshman experience. Now, on top of a roommate, I have found a best friend, and someone who has buddied up with me to tackle meeting the rest of campus... this is important.

When meeting other people, it's always easier to do when you have someone already by your side. Generally, your college will supply that person to you, to help you to adapt to the college atmosphere in an easier manner. So, be open to meeting them, and take advantage of the opportunity that you have!

If you've already attended college or are doing so now, feel free to share some of your own roommate experiences!

What do YOU want to be when you grow up?

2009-01-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

"What is college really about? Why am I here?" How many times has that gone through your head? Stumbling back into your dorm or apartment at 3am on a Saturday morning; waking up at 2pm that same Saturday afternoon; cramming during finals week... "Is it really worth all this stress?" How about that one. This spring, I will be entering my second semester of college, and this whole first semester has been full of thoughts that wonder questions that I'm not sure will ever be answered. I feel like as a freshman, we are all stumbling around just trying to get our grips on something- anything to stabilize ourselves from the drastic change of responsible-less high school and living with our parents, to a college setting where there's no one to take care of ourselves, and for once, we have to do it mostly on our own. Scary. New friends, new teachers, trying to figure out what to expect from our new classes, dorms?, roommates?!, having to feed yourself every single meal and do your own laundry; insanity.

And on top of all of this trying to figure out the ultimate question, "What do I want to do when I grow up?" I'm a younger sibling, so I had the benefit of watching my older brother go through the torture of trying to figure out the rest of his life at age eighteen before I had even entered high school. While I watched, the cocky ignorant younger brother that I was, rubbed it in his face that I had my plan all set and I was only fourteen. I knew what I was going to be, I knew how I was going to get there, my plan was all set in stone: I was going to be a graphic artist and attend RHISD... until it changed a couple months after making this ridiculous statement and I wanted to be a professional musician... and then it changed about ten more times where I discovered the broad range of careers that could consume my adult life and suddenly I went from becoming an artist/musician all the way down the spectrum to becoming a physicist and/or an engineer... and all of this was before I even applied for college. Now that I'm actually here, I'm undeclared and really, I have no idea what I want to be, or what I want to do with the rest of my life; in the same shoes my big brother was in not too long ago. But as I'm slowly seeing the messy cloud called confusion, as he did, I am also beginning to realize that there are very few of us who do truly know. The elderly, adults, young adults, teens... most of us have absolutely no idea, and you know what... It's no big deal.

"I've learned something about stress. Stress leads to more stress." Don't fret. We will all figure something out. That's what the first few years of college are for. Hoping that we find an interest that sticks for the rest of the four years that we're there, so we can hopefully find enough time to take the right classes to get a degree in it. Remember, it's not necessary for all of us to know going in, half the reason for being there is to figure it out...