Study abroad – Seriously guys, when will you have another opportunity to immerse yourself in the food, culture, and social life of another country for three to six months or longer? After graduating college, many of you will find a job and work for the rest of your life. Very few jobs will give you more than two weeks to a month of vacation time per year. College might be your only chance to travel for a lengthy period and completely immerse yourself in a different country.
Explore and join different clubs – Colleges have many clubs that cater to a variety of interests. Research clubs, join a club, meet people, do service in your club(s) and have fun! And if you don’t find a club that interests you, you can start a club! Also, look into leadership programs, like the Washington DC leadership program or other programs geared towards your profession. Some benefits of joining a program are networking, resume build-up, and field-work experience. Overall, it’s an amazing opportunity.
Network and build strong relationships – Talk to people, make friends, and be polite! This will go a long way. You never know if that person or someone they know might have a job lined up for you or they could potentially be your business partner. Network, network, and network! Build genuine and strong relationships with your professors, your Teacher’s Assistants (TAs), club members, sports teammates, your job supervisors and managers, and everyone around you. You will need their support for letters of recommendation for jobs, internships, leadership programs, and/or to enroll in your next degree.
Immerse yourself in the 'student' role– Although college parties are fun, remember you are there to learn, get that degree, and move up in the world. Immerse yourself in the entire student college experience. Read your textbooks, learn from your professors/peers, have intellectual conversations, form an opinion, and challenge your professors. How much are textbooks today? 100, 200, or 500 dollars? Yikes! Get your education’s worth and read your textbooks. If you’re going to pay that much for textbooks, you actually need to spend time reading and learning from them. You will be better prepared to answer questions from classmates or professors and most importantly you will have intellectual conversations! Being smart is sexy! You don’t want to be the person that answers “I don’t know” for everything or does not have an opinion. Biggest turn-off!
Do your best – Do your best in school, at work, at internship, and whatever you are doing. Don’t half-ass it. When you deliver your best work, you will feel more productive, proud, and you won’t live with regret.
Make your internship worthwhile – More than likely you will have to complete internship hours to graduate (depending on your degree). Don’t just sign up for whatever internship comes your way. Find an internship that you are genuinely interested in, that pays (if possible), and that you will be happy to go to every morning. Do your best and you might secure yourself a job after you graduate or an amazing letter of recommendation.
Create a healthy lifestyle – It’s easy to set your health aside for other things, but remember without your health you don’t have anything. Nurture your mind and body with healthy food, water, exercise, and good relationships every day. Exercise can be as easy as going for a walk every day, going to the gym, or simply following a yoga video on YouTube. Also, research your college for free exercise or dance classes. Dancing is also a great form of physical activity. Here is more information about the recommendations for physical activity. Remember you only have one body, so it’s important to take care of it.
