The 9 habits of highly effective college students, from a survivor

By Huu Tran

November 17, 2004 | Hi, let me introduce myself, I'm Huu Tran, a sophomore at Utah State University. What they say is true, the first year of college is always the hardest. They also say Vitamin C will cure the common cold and that just so happens to be not true. Back to the story, I made it past my first year of college much to the surprise of a lot of people, including myself.

My dad even lost a couple hundred bucks in a bet. I'm not your typical study 5-hours-a-day, be in bed by ten, have your homework done a week early type of student, but then again, neither is the typical student. Before you go to college, and in the first couple of weeks they try to drill into you the ideals of a great college student. But let's face it, you'd work yourself to death by following all their rules and you wouldn't have any fun. That's why I'm here to help. I'm here to help everyone get through the first hump and make it to their second year, while still enjoying college life. Sit back and enjoy, while I teach you the nine habits of a highly effective college student.

Get plenty of rest. Be in bed by ten -- is what the ideal situation is. But let's face it, you're in college and bedtimes are for elementary students. You'll probably want to stay up till 1 in the morning just so you watch Conan O'Brian late night. Here's my advice: 1) don't schedule an early class. High school is over; you make your OWN schedule. If you don't want to wake up early, DON'T. Schedule something later that suits you. 2) If you do have to have an early class, I like to schedule an early class that you can sleep in. A class where I can sit in back and sleep, no attendance is taken, and I can get the notes from my neighbor ten minutes before the class is done. That works for me, so it might work for you too.

Having a problem with pests -- like a roommate? You're living away from home and now you have to share your apartment and maybe even your room with a stranger. It might be a little different. Chances are, you and your roommates aren't going to hit it off right away. So how do you deal with a roommate? For instance, you find that your roommate is eating your food out of the fridge. He says that he would share all of his stuff. The problem is, he doesn't have any stuff to share. Many people tell you communication is the way to go. I beg to differ, communication leads to conflict and hurt feelings, and who wants that? If you want your roommates to stop eating your food, make extra. I know it sounds like a lot of work but trust me. Make an extra serving of food for him, but add "a little too much" salt, pepper or Tabasco sauce to it. After a couple of times, I bet he'll stop eating your food and learn to buy his own. Little creative solutions like this will make sure your roommate and you never have that problem again.

Are the bills costing you a fortune? Then don't pay them! Well, I mean, you have to pay your bills, but they don't have to cost you a fortune. If you are living in a house where you have to pay utilities, tere are some tricks to lower your bills. You may have been able to leave a light on before you went to college, but now that you actually have to pay an electricity bill you have more of an appreciation for it now. As simple as it may sound turn off the things you aren't using.

Also for heat, why use it? Don't use heat, just put on an extra sweater, wear another pair of socks, and put some mittens on. Then you won't have to pay as much for it. Also, it would be so cold in your house; you could just leave everything on the kitchen table. And you won't have to use your fridge, and save even more on your electric bill. Isn't that convenient -- well no, but it'd be cheaper.

Jake Kohntopp, a sophomore at Utah State University argues this is not a good idea however. "I guess if you want to raise penguins." Jake says. If you want to have pets this is a good idea as well.

It doesn't stink that bad. I must warn you; this next topic is highly controversial. Please seriously read this paragraph and then throw up if you have to. A habit you might have gotten into before coming to college might have been to shower every day. Don't you think that's a little excessive? I mean, c'mon now, a shower every other day, or even a shower every 3 days would do a fine job too. This all goes along with paying less in heating bills. Hot water does cost money. It's not that I'm practicing bad hygiene; I'm just practicing good "cents."

Laundry is another thing too. Why does a shirt have to automatically be washed after every use? It doesn't, if it still looks and smells nice, why not wear it again in a couple of days. Same goes for pants. And then don't do small loads of laundry, wait until you absolutely need to, then more likely than not, you'll have a huge load to wash. You can get it all over with in one wash. The less often you do your laundry, the less you pay in bills. Again, just good sense people.

Relax. Just short and simple; sometimes in college, people will get overwhelmed by grades, work and all the new pressures because they are overworking. Remember, taking time for yourself is okay too. Relax, don't do it, it can be put off for another hour, you are the most important thing. What do we do to relax? Tramp House, which happens to be where I reside, recommends 5 hours of TV. They also recommend having an Xbox or a PlayStation 2. Now, I understand that not everyone can afford a gaming system. So these are my recommendations. If you could pool about a hundred bucks you can buy yourself a GameCube, and if you don't like the new fancy game systems, you could use that money to buy the classic Sega Genesis, Super Nintendos or Nintendo 64s. If you don't have the money right away, there are places on the Internet where you can game for free.

Forget everything you learned in high school. You've just graduated and life is good right? If you haven't already figured out, college is not high school. Remember in high school, you could be popular and coast through life. In college, that game doesn't exist. We're more mature, if you think you could play the politics game here, you are wrong! It'll be game over for you. Nobody cares if you were a cheerleader, class president, or a jock. College is a different game, so learn the rules quickly.

Every penny counts. Again, another lesson from high school we need to forget. Prom came around and you were able to spend $500 on clothes, limos and dinner. Now that you don't have mommy and daddy looking over your shoulder, and you most likely have to pay your own way through college, you have to learn the value of money. I already gave you a few tips on how to save money on bills, but what about things like groceries. Well, one tip is to look for sales. Look through each paper's ads. You might find something cheaper in one store.

Also, forget the "useless crap" spending. If you don't really need it, then you don't really need it. It's all right to spoil yourself once in a while, but you have to do it less frequently then you do now.

Grab a bite without breaking the bank. Worried about gaining the "freshman 15"? Well, if you are a normal college student, you shouldn't have to worry; can't gain weight if you don't have money to buy food. Most people live off the "Ramen diet." Yuck. I'd rather eat road kill. But if you have to, then I recommend not eating just plain Ramen. Spice it up a little. Try adding new things to Ramen. Here's a site that can help you out: Ramen recipes.

Also, use roommates to your advantage. My roommates and I share an intimate bonding moment called "roommate dinner." One night a week we pool about two or three bucks each. Then we go out and we're usually able to buy a pretty good dinner with the money.

How to cheat in studying. Last, but definitely not least, what is the secret to passing tests? How do you get good grades? What is the holy grail of keeping that scholarship? I will tell you, but only on one condition: you have to spread this secret to everyone that you know. The way to cheat in studying is (drum roll please) there is no way to cheat. You have to study. Sorry, there is no special trick to "cheat" studying. But you don't have to do it 5 hours a day, that being said, you have to do it more than 1 hour the night before the test. Just find the happy medium you feel comfortable with and add about an hour to that.

But some people are naturally smarter, and do well on test right? WRONG! I don't claim to be smarter than anyone on this campus. I don't really pay attention in class (when I'm awake). So how do I pass tests? First, study of course. Secondly, when test day comes, don't over-think. A lot of people get so stressed out, that they will make questions more complicated than they really are. Sit down, breathe for a minute, and think about the question. I try not to ever over-think on a test; sometimes I don't even think.

There we go, the nine habits of a highly effective college student. This may not work for everybody, but I'm sure you must find something useful in these tips. Thanks for reading and hope to see you next year. (If we make it.)

NW