1. Your Mom or Dad won’t be there to wake you up before class – You are an adult now and with that comes responsibility.  Your parents, family, and/or significant other will not be there to wake you up before your first class begins.  During High School you may have had the luxury of having someone else wake you up; not now. 

2. Professors do not care why you are late to class - College Professors’ do not care why you are late to class, emergency aside, they just know you are late.  Maybe you had some leeway in High School, but in College, nobody cares who you are, you are on equal footing with your classmates.  Nobody cares if you earned a 4.3 GPA in High School.  What matters is what you are doing now.  Are you attending class?  Do you complete all of your assignments on time?  Do you ask questions if you are unclear on what is being discussed in a particular lecture?  If you continually show up late to class, then the Professor has no other reason to think you won’t show up late to work.  Additionally, showing up to all of your classes on time may help you come final grade time, when you are extremely close to the next highest letter grade.  Don’t expect the benefit of the doubt if you show up late to class or don’t show up at all on a regular basis.  This might cost you a letter of recommendation from your Professor for a job you apply to later in or after your collegiate career is over.

3. It is up to you to purchase textbooks – In High School, aside from books on your summer reading list, your textbooks had been provided.  Show up to class, you are handed the textbook for that particular class.  Not so in college.  You must purchase the required textbooks at the bookstore on campus or online.  Many textbooks are also available in an e-book format, where your books follow you electronically everywhere you go with your iPad/tablet/e-reader.  What about sharing your textbooks with your classmates?  That is up to you, but in many classes, and I am including the one’s I teach, Exam questions come straight from the book.  So what happens if you and a classmate have agreed to share a textbook and come time to prepare for an Exam s/he doesn’t come to the class before the Exam?  You would be out of luck.  I have seen this first hand, both as a student and as a Professor.  There might be benefits to sharing a textbook with a classmate, but also remember there can be quite the consequences as well.  Tread carefully.

4. You can stay out as late as you want – You might be thinking, about time!  I don’t have Mom and Dad breathing down my neck about being home by curfew.  I can do what I want when I want.  There is no truer statement than when you are in College.  If you want to attend an open mic night or a late night study session among other events, you are free to do as you please.  Your parents won’t be waiting for you back at your dorm/apartment/house.  They may text or give you a call to see what you are up to, but that’s about it.  You are an adult at this point, so you can make adult decisions with what you do with your time before, during and after class, along with the weekend’s in-between.  Be smart and wise with your time and decisions.  Many students only have one chance at College.  Do your best to make the best of your time while you are attending College.

5. You can change your Major – You might have your heart set on studying to be an Engineer, but after the first couple of courses on the subject matter, that may change.  That is OK and quite normal.  When I entered College, I was set on following my sister’s footsteps in the Accounting Major.  Except, when I went through a few weeks of Tax Accounting, I started to reconsider.  After a shift to Criminal Justice, I wound up graduating with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration with a focus in Marketing Management.  I had to step outside of my sisters’ shoes and focus on what I wanted to be, not what my sister wanted to be.  You may have pressure to pursue one Major or another from a friend/parent/relative.  Don’t let others tell you what to do.  Do what you want to do.  Be who YOU want to be!  And if that takes a couple of Major changes, your future self will thank your College self, that you took the time and followed YOUR heart, not someone else’s. 

6. Building your Personal Brand Hits Mach 2.0 – During your days as a College student you will exposed to a diverse expanse of Professor’s, students, course materials and extracurricular activities.  Each of which will help to mold you into what the external world will view as your Personal Brand.  The outside world includes recruiters, hiring managers, mentors, coaches, to name a few.  What do you want your external world to view you as?  Someone that is timely, attentive, and adaptive to change?  Or maybe something else.  Think about how you want to be viewed (i.e. your Personal Brand) by others and then back into the people, activities and experiences that will help you achieve it.  Start by making a list of 3 characteristics you want others to think of when they see you, your resume, encounter you in an interview or a Professional setting.

7. Dream On – College is where you want to keep those dreams you have had since you were a child.  Continue or start making those dreams come true by establishing the milestones you will need to hit in order to achieve a particular dream and then assign a deadline you want to accomplish by.  College is quite the place to dream, with the world at your fingertips, but without executing against a plan with realistic goals, your dream will remain just that, a dream.  And if some of your dreams change, you need only to change the corresponding plan, goals and deadlines.  Some dreams may seem out of sight or unattainable, but I am here to tell you that your dreams are only out of sight or unattainable if you will let them be.

The author of this blog is Justin Alan Hayes, architect of The House of You and the leading Expert on career preparation, advancement and achievement, including how to maximize your collegiate career and inspiring others to make their dreams come true.

The House of You (https://www.thehouseofyou.com/shop/), has the most epic career preparation, achievement and advancement books available, titled “The House of You'“, which is being used inside and outside of the classroom by Professor’s, students and student athletes across the world, along with Professional instructional materials, cases, and resume consulting.