I can’t believe back to school season is already here! For those of you who are starting school soon, I know the excitement and nerves are starting to sink in but don’t worry because it will be some of the best years of your life! It’s been four years since I graduated from college and every year since I’ve been meaning to write this post – better late than never right? A bit of a background about me is that I went to San Diego State University and graduated Fall 2013 with a bachelors in Marketing. Even though I’m not in school anymore, I wanted to share four things that I learned that will hopefully help you experience college life to it’s fullest!
Don’t worry about not knowing what to major in right away.
Oh the dreaded reality of trying to figure out what to major in. I’ve always been a super indecisive person so when it was time to decide, you best believe the anxiety set it! I didn’t figure out what my major was until my 3rd year of college and I felt like I was super “behind”. When trying to choose through a never ending list of majors – I realized that I didn’t take my passions into consideration when deciding and letting it be my guide. Remember not to disregard your interests and what you naturally are good at, all of these things are good signs to help you on your path. I went into college as a Pre-Business major because I ruled out the medical field. In my mind I thought it was the only two options that I could choose from because it was considered “safe”. I ended up picking accounting and after my first semester in my upper division classes, I totally failed my accounting class – I received the dreaded “F” on my report card. During this time I had discovered the world of YouTube and decided to start making videos for fun. It became such a great creative outlet and it opened my world up to social media marketing. After struggling in my accounting classes, I realized that it was time to bite the bullet and change my major to Marketing. I then went on to find internships in digital marketing and for the first time ever felt like all the dots were connecting! Fast forward 4 years later, I would have never have guessed that social media marketing would become my professional 9-5 career. Lesson learned, it’s okay not to know right away and that your major does not define your entire life.
You have more time than you think.
There is no specific timeline really… (unless you pick a major/program that has really strict deadlines but thats beside the point 
) We all give ourselves the golden four years to graduate and if you can do it, that is amazing but if you can’t that’s ok too! There is seriously nothing wrong with being a 5th year senior – I was a 5 1/2 year senior because I switched majors last minute but looking back the extra year that I got to spend at school was probably my favorite one. Which brings me to my third point.
Get social and join a club or extracurricular activities.
What you do outside of typical school work is just as important. I was always active in clubs/sports in High School but once I entered college I totally fell off the face of the earth in this department. Partially because I was intimidated by the large amount of people at school and the fact that I never connected with the campus since I lived at home. It was always in the back of my mind to try to rush for a sorority but I didn’t feel like I fit into any that I saw until I learned about a professional co-ed business fraternity. After a three years of thinking about joining, I finally took the leap and went to Rush Week my senior year of college and got in! It was the total highlight of my entire college career and I met people who I was able to connect with and also became some of my bestest friends! Definitely go and explore- I thought it was too late for me to join but I still pledged my senior year. So if you are a freshman definitely go browse around to find something that fits you! It’s a two way street so don’t feel like you have to commit to anything that you’re hesitant about. The feeling of regret is the worst thing so why not just go for it!
Give yourself some extra credit.
Balancing your passion/hobby while going to school can be extremely hard especially when the pressure of a million responsibilities start to set in – school, family, jobs, friends you name it. I want to tell you that its okay to give yourself a break and to not feel guilty about it. I know we tend to multi task and over exert our capacity all the time but its’ ok to take a step back and give yourself some breathing room. Giving yourself some self love and credit for all of the things you’ve accomplished so far big or small can go a long way.
Thank you all so much for reading! If you’re still in school I hope you found this relatable and if you’ve already graduated I would love to learn more about your experiences!
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