Advice.

Someone asked me for some advice on the high school to college transition, and I think a lot of it can apply professionally as well. Here is my life advice!

• Trust yourself. I think most people don’t know what they’re capable of. Apply to those “reach schools.” More often than not, you don’t know your chances of landing something good because you don’t know your competition. This applies to jobs too…
• Don’t bother thinking about what anyone thinks. I know, it’s hard. I didn’t really start living that way until this summer. When I was a freshman at the crazy expensive school, my roommate told me how she didn’t really like the school either but wanted to “stick it out” to show that she could handle it. It was a competition for her. My sister asked me if I thought I could be happier elsewhere. I told her I probably could. These are conversations I remember from over three years ago. I trusted myself, didn’t give a fuck what my roommate thought, packed my shit and left after a year. I don’t consider that quitting. I consider that being smart and realizing better is probably out there. That original school has since been ranked on schools with the worst ROIs (Return on Investment, meaning you give a lot ($$$) and get little back back i.e. job wise), I landed a great job (pay, task, and people wise) in a respected corporation with full-time prospects (thanks to the new school), while that freshman year roommate is working at Massage Envy and a casino in Atlantic City. 
• Talk. To everyone. I became outgoing like no other freshman year. I didn’t know anyone, and I felt so lonely the first weekend. To remedy that, I tried to meet as many people as possible the first semester. I made friends. I made friends that were friends of friends. Soon enough, I had formed a group of friends who then brought in their own friends and made one big group. They’re still all friends (I was the only one that transferred) and that makes me really happy. 
• Don’t go home every weekend… or any weekend. :) It’s hard at first, but seriously, don’t. Campuses that are a dead zone on weekends blow. Luckily, the friends that I made DIDN’T go home, and I think that’s why/how we became friends. 
• Try to be an “open options” major for as long as possible.Thankfully, as a business major, I had a ton of room to move around and was able to take a lot of lower level classes before deciding on anything. (I did blow a few thousand on 2 classes at that first school that were “core courses” JUST for that school, meaning they didn’t transfer over. I’ve come to terms, and I don’t regret it now. In hindsight, they were very important to me…). Take courses that can apply to a lot of different majors at first. You might learn you hate microeconomics your first semester but LOVE macroeconomics your second. You might take more econ courses and decide on econ until you get to econometrics and realize there’s more than just theory involved… 
• Don’t forget why you’re there. Each individual class costs X amount of dollars (do the math, it’s a lot). Every time you skip, it’s like you’re giving away that amount of money. I forget where I read this, but there was research done on how every class you miss reduces your grade on an exam by a certain percentage… it was significant. Also, read the textbooks. I’m ashamed to admit it took me awhile to realize I had to do this. I NEVER read the books in high school. And buy used (and sell - possibly for profit…) on Half ;)
• Say yes to everything & join clubs. Do not waste your time sitting around. New experience? Do it. Even if it isn't as good as expected, you’ll realize what you’re capable of suffering through. Chances are, it won’t be too bad … Plus, new experiences are always good!
• Go the extra mile as often as possible. I hate to admit this too, but I got wait listed when I applied to the school I’m enrolled at now. A great prof told me to get my ass into Admissions and tell them how badly I wanted to go here. I did, immediately after that class. Admissions suggested I change my major to get in (I assume he was suggesting I then change it back to business once I got in…). I almost cried. Instead I told the truth and said I just couldn’t afford it. The next day, I got a phone call (to this day, I have never heard of an Admissions office making a phone call like this) saying someone declined their offer and he “thought of me and my enthusiasm” and wanted to offer me a spot. If I hadn’t made that one visit…