#getting ‘safe use advice’ from a coworker who has never so much as seen weed

[egopathic]

nothing more irritating to me than slightly older friends who have lived pretty normal lives talking to me like i’m 7 and/or giving me life advice on things i’ve been dealing with forever and certainly never asked about.

[puellafatua]

College advice for people like me

So I've seen a lot of posts floating around with advice for college freshmen, and while those are great there's still definitely things I wish I'd known going in that I haven't seen mentioned. So, without further ado, here's my college advice- the Type B personality edition. 

 1. More than anything, I want to emphasize that just because you're staying up late and working for hours and stressing out DOES NOT EQUAL being an amazing student. If you're not sleeping well and dividing your time up well, you're not gonna be capable of your best work. So my advice is to work smarter, not harder. Join study groups, go to office hours, go to tutoring or the writing center. Dont make your own flashcards if you don't have to- most of the time, someone who's taken the class before will have study sets on quizlet you can use, and that saves so much time and stress. Just be nice and make sure to make your own study sets public when you make them, it's a fair trade. You can also usually find YouTube videos from experts summarizing issues that you're uncertain about. Some of this seems obvious, but it'll all save you time. 

 2. This kind of fits in with the first point, but go to class and take hand written notes. You can type them up later if your handwriting isnt great, but you'll remember things you write down better. You're also less likely to get distracted during the lecture. Also, check to see if your professor posts the lectures. If they do, you can print them before class and take notes on anything they say that wasn't in the slides. 

 3. Have a buddy in every class. We all miss sometimes, and its easier to catch up if someone is willing to send you their notes. Also friends are a good thing to have. 

 4. If you like to procrastinate, write the wrong due date in your planner. This has saved my life and also my GPA. When you go to turn in the project or paper and discover you have extra time, it's like a little gift to yourself. Use it to edit, or to relax or stress cry. Really, just do with it what you want 

 5. Don't nap. Unless you work nights, then definitely nap. But napping will seriously screw with your sleep schedule, and you'll lose valuable daylight hours. I promise you, you'll do better work at 3 pm than at 3 am. 

 6. Stop doing homework an hour before you go to bed. There's a long psychological/neurological explanation for why you should do this, but the basic idea is that your brain will process and store what you've studied better if you give it time before you go to sleep. I personally never study after 11 pm, and I have a 3.7 so that's gotta count for something. 

 7. Don’t do what I just did. No one wants to hear you brag about your GPA. College is hard and everyone's already competitive enough as it is. 

 8. If you have breaks between classes, don’t go home. "I'll just have a snack between classes," you say. "I'll just take a quick nap, or I can study at my desk." Listen. That is the devil talking. Pack a snack, drink some coffee, and spend your breaks at the library. You'll thank me when you don’t have to do all that work at 2 a.m. 

 9. Get an accordion folder and a five subject notebook. You'll thank me when you never have to worry about bringing the wrong stuff to class. Your back will thank me when the weight of your backpack doesn’t cause you to need physical therapy (you think I'm exaggerating, but I literally needed PT for this reason). 

 10. Exercise. I'm begging you. Your brain is so much happier and more functional when you do. I'm not saying you have to become a gym rat. Stretch before bed, take a walk around the library when your brain is fried, take the stairs instead of an elevator. Getting an actual workout in is better, but it's not realistic for everybody. Just don’t get sedentary. Your brain and your body will thank me later. 

 11. Eating healthy sucks. Pizza is better than salad and You Can't Change My Mind. So trick yourself into eating healthy. Green smoothies taste amazing; green tea has caffeine and is good for your metabolism; some protein shakes don’t taste like ass (I drink a lot of them so message me if you want suggestions); stir fry is heaven; there are many companies that now make vegetable "chips" that are not processed and have all the same value of actual veggies without the effort of making veggies. I'm a mindless snacker who just wants to sweet release of biting something crunchy and salty so these are a godsend. 

 12. Don't cheat on people. Don't date people just so you don’t have to be single. Don’t get into "things." Treat other people right, and make sure they're treating you right too. My friends are all in difficult majors but the number one cause of stress in most of their lives is shitty relationship decisions. Don’t do that. Be smart. Make me proud, son. 

 13. Schedule time for yourself. Honest to God, write it in your planner. "Saturday from 10 to noon I will sit in my pajamas and drink hot chocolate and watch netflix and no one is permitted to talk to me." Don’t waste a whole day on stuff like that, but in college you're with your friends constantly (especially roommates) and even the most extroverted person on earth needs alone time. Make it happen. 

14. Unfollow and block to your heart's content. You are not obligated to give social media validation to people who make you unhappy or uncomfortable. It ain't that deep. 

 15. You're already paying for the counseling center through your tuition. You might as well go. 

 16. Dont live with your best friend, I guarantee you they're a bad roommate. I've been there. I've been her. We are all worse in the comfort of our own rooms than we are the rest of the time. 

 17. Condoms please and thanks. No unwrapped d**k is worth your health, and if you get pregnant in college the desks are very small and difficult to fit a belly into. And who wants to get an abortion when you can just avoid the whole mess all together. Safe sex babes. 

 18. Weed isnt that great and neither is alcohol. But both pale in comparison to how incredibly lame and pointless vaping is. Dont do it kids. Not even once. 

 19. Join a club or befriend your coworkers. Sometimes you need a get away from your main group of friends, and you can never have too many friends. 

 20. If you talk too much in class, then on behalf of your classmates, please reconsider your choices. Especially in psychology classes. We know when you're trying to diagnose yourself, even if you think you're being subtle. Go to the counseling center if need be, there's professionals there. 

 This is not at all a comprehensive list, and it may not be valuable to everyone. But I'm more than halfway done with college and based on my experiences and those of my friends, I think this is absolutely vital information for some people.