Hack

So far, I only have 16 college tips/hacks. More to come soon.

1.    Live on campus your first year or two.

a.       When I lived on campus I met some of my greatest friends in my LLP (dorm). I wouldn’t exactly recommend living in a dorm that fresh and brand new either. Sounds weird but I lived in a rinky-dink dorm and my best college moments came from living in a small community.

2.    Make friends with upperclassmen

a.       Yea, cause who’s going to buy you liq. But in all seriousness my first two years at UK the majority of my friends were upperclassmen. They gave the do’s and don’ts college socially and have really helped me develop my style and helped me break out of my shell.

3.    Save your money

a.       Anything can and will happen in college so saving your money for emergencies only is a big tip.

4.    Get an on-campus office job

a.       This is really the biggest hack/tip. Getting a job on campus was like getting paid to do my homework.

b.       Another cool thing about working on campus is NETWORKING. Yea it was very chill and easy working on campus but when I needed to network I networked. I worked for a campus resource center so I had the opportunity to meet almost every important face at UK. I know that networking with my job is going to help me in the long run. Especially when applying to graduate school.

5.    Join an organization

a.       Join an organization with likeminded people that way you will not feel alone on such a big campus.

6.    Have multiple planners

a.       I have multiple planners/calendars. One stays in my room, one stays in the kitchen, one stays in my backpack and I have a backup agenda.

b.       The reason why is because college really tests your time management skills (blog about this coming soon)

c.       Color coordinate events/assignments in your agenda

                                                               i.      Yellow = minor assignment due

                                                             ii.      Pink = exam

                                                           iii.      Green = organization meeting/event

                                                           iv.      Orange = major assignment due

                                                             v.      Blue = miscellaneous (rent due, bill due, etc)

7.    Pick your clothes the night before

a.       Experiencing Kentucky weather on a big campus is the worst. What I do when the weather isn’t consistent is check the weather app before going to bed and planning my outfits the night before. If it’s supposed to rain at 9am, snow at 11:30pm, and then be 90 degrees out at 4pm, best believe I’m prepared.

b.       *** another hack within a hack***

                                                               i.      If you go out for Thirsty Thursday and have morning classes on Fridays, shower and wear your Friday outfit to bed so you can literally roll out of bed straight to class.

8.    Pre-plan your going out outfits too

a.       With my friends and I something always comes up to where we are rushing to get ready to go out. Whether it be we got to get so and so from the dorms to being stuck at the mall, something happens. I started pre-planning my going out outfits for these reasons lol.  This tip helps because by pre-planning your going out outfit you will have one less thing to worry about when being rushed to be cute by a certain time.

                                                               i.      Also plan multiple fits just in case plans change for the night. It doesn’t have to be to extravagant.

9.    Make use of campus resources

a.       This tip/hack helps with networking and getting extra help on campus

b.       No joke, 5 minutes on my campus tour as a prospective freshman I made use of a campus resource (the Violence Prevention and Intervention Center) and was able to make great connections with the faculty/staff. I also got to gain experience in public health issues REALLY early in my collegiate years (my major is public health).

10.  Go to your instructor’s office hours

a.       It sounds corny or whatever but really make friends with your instructors and TA’s. they have times set aside to talk to students about the class and can easily give you extra credit or something to help your grade.

                                                               i.      I turned an 86 to a 90 by just asking my instructor to re-do an essay during finals week. They are here to help.

11.  Get a side job

a.       Have a side hustle on campus. It can be selling your artwork, snacks, taking photos, something. That extra change does come in handy.

12.  Department Sales are your best friend

a.       Building a business professional wardrobe was essential for me and my major. By utilizing department sales (JCP, Macys, H&M, Etc) I got to buy expensive business wear for really cheap. I’m like Jason Pitts when it comes to buying clothes.

                                                               i.      Ex: Macys usually have their “one day” sales in the beginning of February (aka during tax season) I would go to Macys and buy some name brand heels and business tops for affordable prices.

a.       Then head over to other stores like NY and Co. or H&M to get blazers, skirts, and slacks for cheap like 50%-80% off because they are about to launch their spring line of clothing.

13.  Read the Syllabus

a.       Read the syllabus and learn about the instructor’s policies before the class gets up and going.

                                                               i.      Write down the due dates of assignments from your syllabus into your agenda and color coordinate your assignments

1.       Yellow = regular assignment due

2.       Pink = Exam

14.  Study at least one week before your exams

a.       It just helps lol

15.  Go to the counseling center

a.       Even if you don’t believe that you have a mental disorder it helps to go to the counseling center. I get to talk to my counselor about a ton of stuff and he helps me get through some struggles that I face in college.

16.  Get an accountability group

a.       An accountability group are a group of friends that hold you accountable for your grades and class performance.   

                                                               i.      My major is very small so I don’t have really any classes with my friends or with students that look like me. To make up for that I created the accountability group where my friends and I share each other’s schedule and basically aim to get As in our classes by supporting each other.