You’ve probably heard of how to thrive during your first 90 days at a new job. This article explores 11 ways to win your first 90 days at college or university – if it isn’t totally relevant for you I wager that it will resonate with a student in your life.
University and college students around the world are in the middle of their first week of school. Whether you are in your first or fifth year of an undergraduate or graduate degree, it is highly probable that you – and definitely your parents – are wondering how to get the highest return on investment for your very expensive journey through higher education.
After reflecting on our collective experience in higher education, here are Kurt, Michael and my 11 ways to win your first 90 days at college or university:
1. Learn how to learn.
To achieve a thriving student experience you must develop the ability to learn. Knowing how to take notes, study, write essays, collaborate on projects, work in a lab, and complete tests is the gateway to realizing your potential in higher education. So, visit your library or learning commons, and ask your Residence Advisor or Teaching Assistant for help.
2. Work hard.
Distractions like independence from parents, attractive coeds, and anonymity in a five-hundred-person lecture hall can erode your college/university experience. Focus on sucking as much out of the experience as you can, which should also include working hard on friendships, healthy living, partying, and building a better campus community.
3. Be nice.
Kindness is the new coolness. Go out of your way to help strangers. Sit with lost and lonely folks in the cafeteria. Offer your expertise and invite people into your community. Sowing seeds of kindness will yield fruitful friendships later in your university career.
4. Get organized.
One of the great things about college and university is the diversity of opportunities. If you haven’t already, start thinking of a good task management and calendar system to get all your academic and extracurricular activities mapped out. Being organized will ensure you don’t miss deadlines or key milestones and you pack more fun experiences into your college years.
5. Make use of what’s available.
Post-secondary institutes want to increase retention. Every campus is full of people who want you succeed. Set aside some time to tour the student services and your student association. You’ll meet people committed to your success who can make a real difference in terms of well-being as well as your academic and career success.
6. Be enthusiastic.
Be positive and excited about every experience because positivity is contagious. Avoid joining or building cliques. Abandon put-downs, gossip and bullying. Being too cool may have worked in high-school, but it doesn’t play so well in the large and diverse post-secondary world. People tend to be much more attracted to happy people than mean people.
7. Do something. Anything.
During the first week of school you will hear (and have heard) phrases like “get involved” and “try new things” and “join clubs and teams” and “pledge my fraternity”. There is no right, wrong or perfect experience. “Nothing is a waste of time unless you make it so,” said the great Wade Davis. No matter what you choose it is the right thing for you at this time. Just don’t overwhelm yourself by taking on everything because this will lead to burnout and result in you doing a bunch of stuff poorly.
8. Learn to cook and eat well.
If you follow even half of our recommendations you’re going to be busy. Don’t fall into the fast-food trap. A greasy gut won’t get you where you need to go. Learn to cook and eat well and you’ll have a skill that will support you well through school and the rest of your life. Top tip: Lots of student associations offer fresh-food baskets and cooking courses. They’re a great place to start.
9. Fail fast and often.
Many of the students with whom I worked at the University of British Columbia had never failed at anything in their life (the academic average for first year students was/is around 97%) before university. The thing about life is that, at some point, you will fail at it. So trust us when we say that college/university is the best place for you to fail at something. Flunk an exam, start a club that goes nowhere, experience heartbreak and get fired from your job as a chicken wing fry cook (some or all of these things may or may not have happened to Kurt). Whatever it is fail at something and learn from it because people who are comfortable with risk are successful and also have very interesting stories for job interviews and dinner parties.
10. Challenge authority!
Attention graduate students. Your college and university should enhance your ability to disagree without being disagreeable. Professors and advisors are knowledgeable stewards of the educational experience, but Gods of All Things You Study they are not. Question, debate, rebel, poke, annoy, and challenge the status quo as an ambassador of future potential. Because such disruptive behaviour and thoughtful co-creation of learning is what evolves the system of higher education.
11. Be yourself and create experiences.
People might tell you that post-secondary education is a place to find yourself. Or maybe even invent yourself. These people are wrong. More likely, college/university will help you understand yourself, your interests, your passion, and your abilities. What you want to invent are opportunities (e.g. projects, parties, trips, jobs, social enterprises) that combine your interests and abilities – down the road, employers will care more about what you invented and why you did it than how many A+ essays you wrote.