Letter To My College Freshman Self

So you’ve been on campus for a few weeks. You’re in awe of all the young, beautiful women. You’re overwhelmed by the constant stream of information and entertainment. You’ve attended all the first week events and maybe you’ve had sex with a tight 18 year old discovering her freedom for the first time. You may think you know yourself, you may think you know everything, and you may be overwhelmed by the freedom you think you have. There’s one thing wish for you to understand and that is “you know nothing.” This is not a bad thing, but no matter how well you think you know yourself, your passions, or your morals, but the next four years will temper your youthful heat into the man you will soon be.

University has become a stepping stone into real life. You get the autonomy of living on your own without the responsibility that comes when the student loans dry up. When it comes down to it university is truly the best place to discover who you are deep down. Having been through it myself I can tell you this:

Social Life

Follow the 10 college commandments. Don’t get tied down by any one group or woman. Now is the time to be friends to every one you meet, to start as many relationships as you can. Hold your friends and lovers to a set of personal standards. If they do not meet these standards there are thousands of other people who would be great to be friends with. Don’t keep the do-nothings around, stay away from the angry idealists, shun the dudes with bad game, and reject the psycho chicks.

Many people I knew did not want to live in the dorms, but living in the dorms produced some of the best relationships and funnest nights. Watch what you eat, be mindful of who you fuck, and make sure you can bring value to any group. Eventually you should be at the point where you can walk down the street for 10 minutes and stop to say hi to a few people.

Like I said before watch what you eat in the dorms and hit the gym hard. University is the time to be building life long habits. One of these habits will be getting up before everyone else. When you wake up hours before your peers you can hit the gym, cook your food, and do your homework before your buddy calls you up to go drinking at 6pm.

The number one thing you should not do is waste time. You’ll have days where you just want to sit around and watch the Wire all day eating snacks, or you might get off class and surf Facebook for hours. Fuck that. You will never again have the same level of freedom you do now unless you work for yourself. Get everything you need done while the day is young then soak in as much experience as you can at night. Try to do everything you ever wished you could do.

Classes

Chose your classes wisely. Research your program so that you get all of your required courses out of the way before you head off to study abroad. Research the options your major gives you and if you find you’d rather party or travel instead of commit to learning why are you still in school?

When it comes to studying, university is the polar opposite of high school. In high school everything is defined for you. You get daily homework, frequent progress reports and the teacher’s job is to keep you on track. In university you have to do all this yourself. You can get by if you pay attention in class, but studying is more than memorizing facts. Learn concepts, be able to explain things, and most of all learn how to take tests better.

Wow, so much diversity!!!

Remember that a university is a business, but you also get out what you put in. It may seem like you’re paying exorbitant fee for a piece of paper, but depending on the school you get: prestige, connections, beneficial professor relationships, etc. You’re shelling out the cash, so work your hardest to get the most return on your investment.

Last of all make your own choices, take the advice of those wiser than you, but don’t feel the need to live up to someone else’s expectations; be it friends, family, or society. Even if you completely fuck everything up don’t regret it, you’re ahead of 90% of the world as it is. Have fun, don’t stress out, and live life to its fullest.

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