#UICTIPS
If you sit back here, you’re going to get distracted.
One of the best ways to succeed in college is to learn how to adapt. Whether you are an incoming freshman, transfer student or a rising senior, learning how to change your mindset to fit different situations is a pivotal point to surviving college. Add your own and see more tips by following UIC SAB on Twitter and using #UICTIPS.
Here’s my top four #UICTIPS to consider (one for each year I’ve been in college).
- Cool kids sit in the front. That’s right. Besides being able to hear and see everything that the professor does in class, sitting in the front can help you. While sitting in the front, I believe you are more inclined to pay attention in class, less likely to be on your phone (mostly because of the fear of being called out by your professor) and more likely to stay awake no matter how long the class is. When I sit in the back, I can become easily distracted. I start looking around the classroom, class seems to go slower than usual and I’m constantly tweeting about how bored I am. The difference between my retention of course content when I sit in the front of the class compared to when I sit in the back is very significant.
- Living the fiscally conservative lifestyle. You’re in college now. Very few people will truly care how many pairs of Jordans you have, if you just spent $500 on a purse or even if you only eat at the most luxurious restaurants. Realize that you are in college right now, where the most luxurious meal often comes from Jim’s. Set a budget for yourself and live off of it. Test your initial budget for two months and adjust it as you see fit. Ask your professor, or past students, if a book is really necessary before you purchase it. Your wallet will love you once you begin cooking at home and taking leftovers for lunch instead of spending money at different fast food chains everyday. Remember, Mr. T pities the fool who spends more than they make (actually, I don’t know if he does, but it sounded good).
- Keep it to yourself: It’s in your best interest to keep those long rants about group partners, professors or anything else along those lines to yourself. DO NOT vent about these things on Twitter. It is possible that your potential employer will see those tweets and believe that your actions/character can be detrimental to their employee culture. Even though you may delete your tweets, they never truly leave (ask Mr. Meek Mill how his diss track went). When you tweet, think of #TBT, not Throwback Thursday, but Think Before Tweeting.
- Mr. or Ms. Clean: This tip is for those who dorm on campus. It should go without saying, but apparently someone has to say it. CLEAN UP. No one, I repeat, NO ONE wants to come over to your room/hall when it’s nasty and has a foul odor. If anything, it’s common courtesy to your friends, the janitorial staff and to yourself. It’s a courtesy to yourself because when you clean, you feel better, you work harder and you have a clearer mind. Take your garbage to the garbage room (and actually put it in the container), hang your clothes up after you wear them, freshen up your room with a little Febreeze.
Christian Gray is a senior majoring in marketing with a focus in promotion and communications and a minor in economics. He is president of the Student Activities Board. When he’s not planning events or doing schoolwork, you’ll catch him watching something sports related (#KOBE) or vibing out to music. His career goal growing up was to be Batman. He won’t tell you if he was successful on that mission, but let’s be real – have you ever seen him and Batman in the same place before?
