What I Wish I Knew During College + What I Learned After
That my choices should be knowledge-based, not fear based.
Almost every mother says it (I know my mom does). That one phrase that makes you a little more wary as you walk on the street at night, "the worlds a dangerous place." These simple words stick with you and now you're suddenly hyper-aware of everything around you.
But as dangerous as the world is, I knew myself. I listened to my gut and I was fine. I kept my head high, I knew where I was, and I made sure other people knew where I was as well. One of my friends even said they knew if they were with me, nothing was going to happen.
It's not about avoiding situations because of potential dangers. That's no way to live your (college) life. But it's about knowing them and taking precautions.
I probably wasn't as good with money as I thought.
I never asked my parents for money. I was pretty aware of what my bank account was because my card didn't get declined. But I didn't stick to a budget. Theoretically, I knew what a budget was and how to use it... but I never did. Using an excel spreadsheet seemed too complicated and my phone was so old a the time I didn't even consider downloading an app. But there's an app for everything.
At first, I looked at the Mint and Prism app which more suited for monitoring and paying monthly payments. You need to enter your banking information and other account information (ex. Netflix), which I didn't want to do so I ended up getting the iSaveMoney app. This is strictly a budgeting app and is pretty easy to use. Now I actually have a budget that I can stick to.
Check your bank account! I recommend at least weekly, if not more often. Knowing exactly where your money is going is more powerful than ever. And ask questions. What's a CD? Should I open one? What's the difference between a bank and a credit union?
I had a savings account at Chase bank ... It took $25 to open and every month I had to deposit/transfer another $25 to avoid a monthly $5 monthly service fee. Or I had to have at least $300 to avoid the fee. And with an interest rate of 0.01%, I had to save over $1000 to even see a penny back.
But then I opened a Summit Credit Union Primary Savings account. This only took $5 to open and for a college student having "no monthly fees or minimum balance charges" was way more appealing. Not to mention I started to see cents back with only $25 saved. So I closed my Chase Savings account and only use Summit Savings.
Trying to find the motivation to work out is hard.
Forget the Freshman 15. Over my four years, I gained probably 15-17 pounds. It was a gradual increase, but even more so after I quit tennis sophomore year to put my time and energy into my major. And while I graduated Magna Cum Laude and with a Leadership in Nursing Award, I didn't look my best at graduation.
Once I graduated and started to work on the floor as an RN, I lost 5 pounds right away. Nursing means you're on your feet and the good news about that is that means my organization is paying me to walk 3-5 miles a day. But I still need to put time in outside of work to work out.
I'd rather invest my time and money into experiences, not things.
Let's go to a hot air balloon festival. Go out and dance the night away. Take a day trip to wine country.
I would have been a lot more productive outside of class without Social Media.
Every student could probably say this. Being a millennial I love social media, but it takes so much of your time. If I would have read more, exercised more, cooked more, I think my life would have been even better. Reading would have opened my world, and make my skills and knowledge grow. Exercise is self-explanatory. And cooking (specifically meal prepping) is a skill I have yet to master (I really want to try WildTree).
In my apartment or dorm's lounge area is where I would do most of my homework. They had computers there anyone could log into. That's where I would sit down and do my work. Having a specific area that wasn't my bedroom made me way more productive.
Networking is important.
WRITE down your login/passwords. Keep a list of places that have your address (banks, professional organizations, etc) so you can change them as needed.
If you leave things alone, they get worse.
Learning never stops.
Almost every mother says it (I know my mom does). That one phrase that makes you a little more wary as you walk on the street at night, "the worlds a dangerous place." These simple words stick with you and now you're suddenly hyper-aware of everything around you.
But as dangerous as the world is, I knew myself. I listened to my gut and I was fine. I kept my head high, I knew where I was, and I made sure other people knew where I was as well. One of my friends even said they knew if they were with me, nothing was going to happen.
It's not about avoiding situations because of potential dangers. That's no way to live your (college) life. But it's about knowing them and taking precautions.
I probably wasn't as good with money as I thought.
I never asked my parents for money. I was pretty aware of what my bank account was because my card didn't get declined. But I didn't stick to a budget. Theoretically, I knew what a budget was and how to use it... but I never did. Using an excel spreadsheet seemed too complicated and my phone was so old a the time I didn't even consider downloading an app. But there's an app for everything.
At first, I looked at the Mint and Prism app which more suited for monitoring and paying monthly payments. You need to enter your banking information and other account information (ex. Netflix), which I didn't want to do so I ended up getting the iSaveMoney app. This is strictly a budgeting app and is pretty easy to use. Now I actually have a budget that I can stick to.
Check your bank account! I recommend at least weekly, if not more often. Knowing exactly where your money is going is more powerful than ever. And ask questions. What's a CD? Should I open one? What's the difference between a bank and a credit union?
I had a savings account at Chase bank ... It took $25 to open and every month I had to deposit/transfer another $25 to avoid a monthly $5 monthly service fee. Or I had to have at least $300 to avoid the fee. And with an interest rate of 0.01%, I had to save over $1000 to even see a penny back.
But then I opened a Summit Credit Union Primary Savings account. This only took $5 to open and for a college student having "no monthly fees or minimum balance charges" was way more appealing. Not to mention I started to see cents back with only $25 saved. So I closed my Chase Savings account and only use Summit Savings.
Trying to find the motivation to work out is hard.
Forget the Freshman 15. Over my four years, I gained probably 15-17 pounds. It was a gradual increase, but even more so after I quit tennis sophomore year to put my time and energy into my major. And while I graduated Magna Cum Laude and with a Leadership in Nursing Award, I didn't look my best at graduation.
Once I graduated and started to work on the floor as an RN, I lost 5 pounds right away. Nursing means you're on your feet and the good news about that is that means my organization is paying me to walk 3-5 miles a day. But I still need to put time in outside of work to work out.
I'd rather invest my time and money into experiences, not things.
Let's go to a hot air balloon festival. Go out and dance the night away. Take a day trip to wine country.
I would have been a lot more productive outside of class without Social Media.
Every student could probably say this. Being a millennial I love social media, but it takes so much of your time. If I would have read more, exercised more, cooked more, I think my life would have been even better. Reading would have opened my world, and make my skills and knowledge grow. Exercise is self-explanatory. And cooking (specifically meal prepping) is a skill I have yet to master (I really want to try WildTree).
In my apartment or dorm's lounge area is where I would do most of my homework. They had computers there anyone could log into. That's where I would sit down and do my work. Having a specific area that wasn't my bedroom made me way more productive.
Networking is important.
WRITE down your login/passwords. Keep a list of places that have your address (banks, professional organizations, etc) so you can change them as needed.
If you leave things alone, they get worse.
Learning never stops.
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