By: Rodney Smith

Although they say college isn’t for everybody, 69.9 percent of the world chooses to attend. College is most known for being the best four years of your life with the friends you make, new experiences in life, seeing different things you may have not been used to, but none of that is possible if you don’t take the right steps in to being a college student. The media portrays a false image of college today. The media chooses to display the big parties, drugs, girls and drinking, making a lot of people desire to attend for the social aspect. But just like the real world, it isn’t that easy. 

There are some steps you can take to be a good college student such as time management, priorities, affiliation, etc. Time management, being a most important task for a college student, is not as easy as it sounds. Many college students choose to procrastinate and turn to something more fun, rather than getting work done. One of the big transitions from high school to college is the amount of homework given. Most of the time in high school you didn’t receive a lot of homework or even get homework in general, but that all changes when you get to college and have something due every day. With the big change, you now have to actually put work in and focus if you want to pass because now showing up to class is optional. You’re no longer forced to attend class, so you have to have the right mindset to be successful. All college kids are guilty of time management issues such as procrastination, partying, distractions, friends, etc.  

Another key to being a great college student is putting priorities first. This can be similar to time management but can also be very different. Asking yourself if that distraction is worth it when you have homework to do or is this bar worth it when you have a test the next day, are all questions that fall under priorities. Learning that college isn’t all about fun is important to be a great student. Is that video game worth it? Is that TV show worth it? Priorities are something that can catch up to you and be a great trait to work on for the real world because once you get a real job after college, you no longer have any room to slack. 

Furthermore, who you choose to affiliate and hang out with is something you’ve been hearing since elementary school. Find the right path that will steer you the right direction to being a great student. I know it may be a struggle to find fun friends that are also great students but these are things that will pay off in the long run. When you come out of college with your friends graduated and with a degree, you’ll thank yourself for not choosing the friends that partied every night and have to stay another year. 

In conclusion, college is what you make it; you can make it the best four years of your life, or make it the best two years because you chose to give up due to not applying the right effort. Everyone is given the chance to be successful, you just have to be ready to take it. 

Rodney Smith is a junior at the University of Saint Mary and is studying Digital Communications.