Top 3 Lessons College Life has taught me

Mid-semester examinations of my second semester are around the corner. It's only been about 4 months since I've been in college, and I've got to say that it has been a wonderful and wholesome experience.

Let's Go!

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1. Time Management is THE skill to master.

Sleeping at 2 in the night and having a class at 8am? Wanna play sports in the evening while simultaneously committing to societies and friends? Wanna party with friends in the hostel, watch movies all night long and get some personal time to study as well?

I think you get the gist of what I'm trying to say here. College is such a happening place that one often gets confused and sometimes overwhelmed when managing one's time.

I still remember the phrase my parents and teachers used to say quite a lot in my school days, "You only have 24 hours in a day". As evident as it sounds, the realisation has never hit me as hard as in college; it's fascinating how many things you may do in college. Still, at one point, you have got to say NO. After all, it is your time, and YOU are in charge of it.

Personally, my first semester had been a disaster, to say the least, when it came to managing my time. I did not give adequate time to my friends, academics, and explore life in general. I didn't have a fixed routine, continuously skipped classes, woke up late and skipped breakfasts. If it weren't for my close friends who used to wake me up just-in-time, I'd have missed more classes than I imagined!

Here is how I plan to correct my mistakes this semester:

• Make a daily to-do list and a habit tracker

• Follow a weekly routine with weekly goals to accomplish

• Wake up early and make time for fitness

• Cut out procrastination by constantly working on any stuff that I can find

• Maintain good relationships with friends by taking out time for them as well

• Work for societies only for a specific period of a day

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2. You're not the best in the world.

Once in college, you're exposed to people from many contrasting backgrounds. The world is filled with highly talented people, and so is your college. When I say that "You're not the best in the world", I don't mean to undermine you. In fact, I mean the complete opposite of that, which is, DO NOT EVER under-estimate others.

I was humbled by my college within mere weeks! When I saw how intellectual, athletic, strong and sound of an orator people are, I got absolutely crushed by the pressure to perform on a big stage! I was often afraid of the extreme competition that existed!

Now that I've realised this, the best approach is humility in these situations. Have faith in yourselves while simultaneously looking for learning all you can from others. When a person is humble and calm, he/she/they can learn SO MUCH from the competition there is! Humble people always find opportunities to learn and upskill themselves while never being cocky about what skill they acquire.

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3. Friendships are important.

Bollywood has popularised college friendships to such an extent that these days, one is under considerable pressure to find a best friend in college 😂 . And frankly, be it consciously or unconsciously, I was under this pressure.

Coming off of an exhausting class 12, I was ready to meet enormous amounts of new people. Somewhere in-between the crowd, I hoped to find some of the best friendships that I'll cherish for my entire lifetime. Trying too hard in my first days, I couldn't make good friends! To top that off, I went through a series of unfortunate injuries that, the lack of good friends by my side, the lack of people to share my agony with, made my pain excruciating.

Go out. Explore. Meet new people and make friends. Believe in getting comfortable with people by spending more quality time with them. Don't be pressured to make memories because you'll remember the entire time spent with your favourite people, teary-eyed.

Your closest friends will give you the space to stretch your wings and let you be YOU. The all-nighters, pillow fights and movie nights. Maggi at the night mess where everyone owes money to everyone. Birthday nights where you absolutely crush with the GPL and the cake. Jamming songs all night long and dancing with crazy-ass steps, looking lame as hell. These things will highlight your college life and shape you in a way you couldn't even imagine.

Luckily, I've found a group of friends with whom I can do all these things. I am the most authentic version of me when I'm with them and guys, you know who you are, and if you're reading this, I'm very grateful to you all💛

fin.

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