Don't be that College Student

One of the most exciting parts of coming to college is the point where you begin to feel as if you have found your niche. You found a cool club, the boyfriend/girlfriend of your dreams, new friends, and not to mention you are a pro at grabbing a cone to go from the dining hall.  Even though there are so many groups in your college community, students in general are lumped into numerous stereotypes that ultimately lead to those pictures you will look back on and physically cringe as you wonder who on earth let you walk around in that ironic t-shirt and 3 sizes too small pants. There is absolutely nothing wrong with finding your group among your peers, but there is such thing as taking it too far. 

Let your niche be more like a foundation and develop your own sense of self along with it.  I feel like clubs and organizations are so much more sophisticated now than they were during my freshman year. With social media and a growing interest from students to get involved, it is like campus organizations compete through all of these outlets to build the biggest following possible.  This results in you the student feeling frenzied to find out which one or five you should be joining.  As you begin to feel out where your interests fall during your college career take a moment to read through some of the stereotypes you definitely don't want to take too far.

Don't be that:

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Greek star: Greek life is an amazing opportunity on campus, and is an extremely beneficial organization in terms of networking and meeting new people. Of course there is a laundry list of other rewarding aspects about going Greek, but it seems that with the size of the organization comes the opportunity to take your role a little too seriously.  Use your Greek experience to seek out leadership roles on campus, find that sense of community, and engage in your community, not holler out your house letters every time you cross the street while disregarding others who may not be a part of your organization.  Let Greek life be a part of you, not become you.  

  

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'Yes' student: of course you will be exposed to new things. This is an amazing time to get away from the sheltered experience of your high school parental smothering and give a sport like bike polo a shot or check out a study abroad. Once you hit up the involvement fair it's hard not to go on a yes saying spree. Of course I want to join knitting club... Absolutely I will volunteer to clean the park this weekend...Yes I will come slack-lining today in the park.  Saying yes to everything eventually becomes more of a problem than good.  You may find yourself over booked and with too many responsibilities.  Your planner will begin to look unidentifiable calligraphy from a pyramid tomb, and worst of all you aren't able to participate in what you actually desire due to the fact that you volunteered to have absolutely no time for yourself.  

Raged so hard I forgot about everything else student :With all of these new people and things you are interacting with chances are your social opportunities will become a little more eventful. But when your weekends start carrying over from Thursday through Tuesday we may need to take a step back and re-evaluate.  If you are spending more time deciding which pizza to order at 3am than on your class obligations you may be this student.  While some miraculously can handle a relatively sleepless lifestyle the majority of us need a little more structure and routine. Those two words may be the most un-fun sounding lifestyle aspects you can think about at this point in time when there is a blacklight party next door, but evaluating your day to day will only make things less stressful.  

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Pajama Perpetrator: I realize sometimes it is just too much to put on a pair of actual pants. How can they expect you to put on real clothes when you were forced to be up at the crack of dawn to sit and listen to the genius who decided to give a 2 hour lecture at 8am? While comfort is always important in your daily college routine you should also consider how you are coming off to others. No professor is going to even consider taking you seriously when you go to ask for help in your alligator pajama pants.  Try putting a little effort into getting ready to start your day it will help develop a routine and keep you from being labeled a pajama perpetrator.   

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Class Skipper: Easily identifiable as that person who only tries to be your friend in order to get the notes they missed...and did they mention he/she needs all 15 weeks of notes? Unless they are your sibling or other blood relative no one wants to sit through hours of European history and just hand you the outline for the course while you got to go do things that were actually enjoyable.  Class is part of why you are here if not the most important part of this experience.

  

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Hit the town like it’s mating season student:There is a reason why sexual health programs are some of the most popular we do in our office. College kids love talking about it, and many are expanding their horizons in that category.  Just because you enjoy this new freedom doesn't mean you have to experience it as much as possible with as many people as possible. A night out with friends really can be just a night out with friends. With so many new people eligible in the same place, a basic dinner outing can end up looking like a pack of wild animals competing out on the Savannah. Finding balance among all of these new circumstances will make for the most rewarding experience. 

When you are feeling out your on campus life a great strategy is to notice if it compliments your personal life.  These new opportunities and situations will be amazing, but as you are navigating through it all try not to be that college student.  

-RV