I'm almost through with what you silly English speakers call undergrad. My school was hella small and in a town which offers little distraction so by default I knew pretty much everybody and got my work done okay. This was not true for the exchange semester I spent at a really really big school.
I just realized this is a really long post. If you want the short version - don't be a dick, don't jeopardize what you went to college for in the first place, don't throw away the great chance that's given to you, try new things, make friends, have a blast.Important things:
- Yes, there is slacking off and getting stoned and doing everything you hoped college would bring. But there's also the degree you're working on and your parents sitting at home worrying if you'll get it done and future bills to pay, family to support etc. So don't believe your cool slacker friend who say they never work and get by okay. They either work
secretly or they will fail.
- Yes, there is work and a career and getting sweet grades. But there's also the friends who you'll see less and less if you blow them off
all the time. And all the nice activities you can do at college without any hassle but which are almost impossible to do once you have a job. Everything in moderation, I guess.
- Take the time to travel around. Whether it's a day trip with some good friends or getting away over reading break / during a slow break. As with cool college activities, the time to get this done is now. Not when you're 30 and have a mortgage.
- Be social. Being a hermit is very easy and especially when you're new somewhere it seems like the logical thing to do. But it's a habit that's hard to break. Who is going to drag you out of your room for a dorm social / a friend's house party / a sweet show you didn't know about if you don't know anyone on your floor, you don't have any friends or you don't know anyone who shares your taste in music?
- Bring tons of fun stuff there. The obvious things are the musical instruments you play (or want to learn to play), a gaming console, all the sports equipment you deem necessary. But don't overdo any of them (unless you're studying music or are on a full athletic scholarship or earn a shit-ton of money with gaming). There is always the guy in a dorm / circle of friends who can school everybody else in a certain game *cough HALO *cough*. But if I had to put money on whether he/she is a prodigy or just spends too much time holed up in his/her room, I'll go with the hole theory.
Also, don't play the guitar in public places if you're not very good at it. Nobody wants to hear you suck.
- If you live in a dorm, it's not like living at home. There is more partying (hopefully) but there is probably also more house work to be done. And no mom to clean up after you. Unless you form a pact with your roommates to tolerate the filth that negligence will earn you, clean up every once in a while. Plus it's pretty embarrassing to bring home a girl / guy and have her realize she/he is about to have sex with a slob. If for some reason cleaning up isn't for you, keep out the lights when you bring your guests in
.
- Get into trouble. Many of life's fun things are illegal anyway. But don't jeopardize staying in school / dorm for it. In my first week in my exchange semester, we smoked pot in my roommate's room and accidentally left his door open. Which opened up to the commons block which opened up to the hallway where the next door neighbor was our RA (resident advisor). He was written up and couldn't afford any more shenanigans or he would have been kicked out.
Needless to say, we shenaniganned anyway. We just had to be sneakier about it, and pot + justified paranoia = less fun.
- Find a sweet spot which not too many other people know to hang out and bring friends. I discovered a lot of nice places just because my friends had discovered them. I would never have found them (or even looked for places like them) otherwise.
- BE NICE TO EXCHANGE STUDENTS! Yes, they and their customs can be fucking annoying. But they're also far far away from home and everything they know and you can make their day / week / semester if you include them in activities which they could probably not do by themselves as easily.
That said, be wary of exchange students (and regular students as well) which only hang out with their own nationality *cough* CHINESE GIRLS IN CANADA *cough*. You don't have to include people if they don't want to. I know exchange students who are perfectly content with just hanging out with other exchange students and taking eleventy billion pictures of themselves. But asking once don't hurt nobody.
If cosmic karma applies in some way or shape, once you go on exchange people will be nice to you as well.
- Booze is fun but also expensive. And yes, every day of the week there's a special or a fun activity or something. If you go out too much, you lose time by staying out late and bumming around the day after. If it becomes a habit, it's painful to kick it once you really have to work. Spread it out a little.
- If you have a roommate who has a car and you don't, don't piss him/her off too much. If you have a car and your roommate doesn't, offering an occasional ride goes a very very long way.
