Polishing the Glory Days

So now that you're a few years out and you're probably a few months into the rest of your life I think it's an appropriate time to look back. The conversation starter for this post is things you wish you knew as a freshmen in college; and might tell to someone about to enter college life.

While you're actually swimming in the kiddie pool that is Freshman year, your life is all about meeting people, living on your own, probably performing a make-over on your life, and exploring the boundaries of your personality. But something that I wish I knew is that Freshmen year, like the other 3 years, is also about classes and results. As freshmen year is 1 of 4/5 years of college it's probably about 25% of your grades in college. If you screw the pooch in classes during your freshmen year there is little that you can do to elevate the average of all of your grades in college. While, I feel that this average has little relevance in daily life, it comes up. Like any other grade, it's a way to objectively rank a 22 year old with 0 experience. Have no fear, you will have to tell someone your GPA. So my first lesson is, do whatever it takes to ensure that you get at least moderate grades. Since I don't want you to miss out on a few sessions of Sunday drinking or spontaneous Monday night pajama-jammy-jams, Shoot for B's. You can improve on B's.

When you are out of the library meeting new people you'll probably be drinking a few brews, and sometimes you'll drink too many. This excess drinking is fantastic, but it leads to hangovers, which are not fantastic. It's the hangover that leads former high school athletes to become current college fatties. Even if you aren't recruited to play basketball at Duke, you SHOULD remain active. When you graduate and start the rest of your life, you're going to want to get away from your cubicle from time to time. If over the last 4 years your soccer-legs have become slow-walker-legs, getting away from the desk becomes quite a daunting thing. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what you do, just keep some form of activity in your life and fresh air in your lungs. Your athletic abilities probably are not so natural that they will be there when you want them in 5 years. Also, if you weren't very athletic in high school, college is a wonderful place filled with teams/clubs/people that require limited athletic ability or prior experience. The right fit is there.

Once you graduate, drinking doesn't go away. In some respects it's actually more intense after college because your tolerance falls off a cliff, so learning how to stay active AND party with your friends is extremely valuable. Don't become one of those people who crumble when they are hung over. This is no way to live your post-college life. A hangover is not an excuse to cry.

College is all about exploring. Take some zany internships, go to Europe with no money, meet the "other" people. But remember to pull some grades, stay remotely fit, and learn how to live a good life.

Quit talking about Obama and talk about this with your friends. Post-up some of your lessons.