5 Things to Learn Before You Leave for College!
From "The Senior Edition"
September 12, 2007
In college you will be introduced to many new ideas, opportunities, and endeavors. However, there are certain tasks that you must be familiar with before you go to college. Make sure you know how to do the following before you leave for school.
1. Laundry. If your mom has always done your laundry for you, be sure to ask her to show you how to do it before you move away. You don't want to get ready for class by selecting your daily attire from your laundry bin. Doing laundry is actually very simple once you know how to separate your clothing items. Remember to keep your whites separate from your colors and pre-treat any stains with a stain remover. Check your clothing labels for the correct water temperature and read the directions on the bottle for how much detergent to use. When drying clothes, be sure to use an anti-static sheet.
2. Balance a checkbook. Part of becoming an adult is learning how to manage your finances. College may be the first time you will be handling your money without your parents' supervision, so it is crucial for you to learn how to keep track of your finances before you leave for college. If you will be using a debit card, it is imperative that you either keep your receipts or record the transactions as soon as they are complete. If you don't know where you have spent your money or how much you have spent, then it will be hard to keep an accurate balance of your finances. Contact your bank if you find any discrepancies after checking your monthly bank statement.
3. Share. If you will be living in a dorm when you go to college, then you need to learn how to share. Dorm rooms are small, so you won't have room for two of the same items that take up a lot of space. You will need to share large items with your roommate, such as frig, TV, microwave, etc. Some roommates even share food and clothing. If you grew up with a sibling, then you should find it pretty easy to share with your roommate. If you are an only child, you may find it more difficult to share your belongings with someone else. Try to work on that now by letting one of your friends borrow a CD or some clothing.
4. Use a PDA/day-timer/calendar. Being organized is very crucial in college. If you don't have a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a day-timer, you will have a hard time keeping up with all of your deadlines and endeavors. Use your PDA or day-timer to keep track of assignment due dates, test dates, club meetings, social events, etc. When you get your syllabus, immediately record the due dates for papers and projects and the dates for tests and quizzes. Never plan an activity with out looking at your PDA to see if you have anything else going on for that specific date. Check your device daily so you won't miss anything important!
5. Take notes. In order to perform well in your college classes, you need to be able to take good notes. Most college classes mainly consist of lectures, so a lot of your studying will be from notes that you have taken during the lectures. Professors expect you to have finished your reading assignments before you come to class in order to give you an idea about the lecture in advance.
