{"id":22269,"date":"2014-06-08T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2014-06-08T10:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=22269"},"modified":"2014-06-08T06:00:44","modified_gmt":"2014-06-08T10:00:44","slug":"some-sage-advice-for-the-class-of-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=22269","title":{"rendered":"Some sage advice for the Class of 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learn from my (and my friends’) mistakes in college<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kelly Hockenberry<\/strong>, Columnist, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"UTKellyColumn<\/a>Congratulations Class of 2014!\u00a0 What a milestone!\u00a0 Now, on to the next chapter!\u00a0 You have so much to look forward to!<\/p>\n

Talk to anyone over the age of thirty and they will undoubtedly tell you that college was the \u201cbest time of their life.\u201d\u00a0 We are all jealous.<\/p>\n

I am not saying that it isn\u2019t stressful. I remember vividly cramming for tests, sweating through term papers and spending hours in the library reading volumes of textbooks that ruined my eyesight.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d still go back in a heartbeat. <\/p>\n

However, I would bring with me the wisdom that comes with old age.\u00a0 Lucky for you, I will share my mistakes (and those of my friends) with the hope that you will be smart enough to avoid them completely:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t let cereal become its own food group.\u00a0 Not only is it completely void of nutrients, it is a calorie-laden, Freshman 15 siren song at 2am when your Intro to Psych paper is due in 7 hours.\u00a0 Just say no.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t let beer become its own food group (for a million and one reasons).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Formulate a study group early on and make it an actual STUDY group.\u00a0 This is not the time to invite all of the good-looking, popular people.\u00a0 Save them for the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Wear something different than a college- logo emblazoned hoodie at least twice a week.\u00a0 And, learn how to launder your clothes correctly\u2026separate the whites from the darks, pre-treat, yadda, yadda.\u00a0 This will demand 90% of your time in the future, trust me.\u00a0 Get it right early on.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t switch your major because it is \u201chard\u201d.\u00a0 I was convinced that I would never make it to medical school because I couldn\u2019t grasp Organic Chemistry.\u00a0 I never pursued trying to master that class.\u00a0 I simply walked away. \u00a0I wouldn\u2019t do that today.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t be afraid to study abroad!\u00a0 This is the opportunity of a lifetime to see the world.\u00a0 Do NOT pass it up because it may not come again for a loooooong time.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t be a wallflower!\u00a0 Date your little heart out.\u00a0 I know that this particular piece of advice may get the stink eye\u2026but, leave the high school romance behind.\u00a0 There.\u00a0 I said it.\u00a0 Not to sound all Hallmark card-ish, but if it\u2019s meant to be, you\u2019ll reunite.\u00a0 You will never fully embrace your college experience if you are pining away for someone 12 hours west.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t try to date the entire school.\u00a0 Quality over quantity.\u00a0 Good to keep in mind.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Hitch your wagon to a star.\u00a0 That\u2019s Ralph Waldo Emerson\u2019s advice but I stand behind it.\u00a0 The sky is the limit.\u00a0 Dream BIG.<\/p>\n

Happy Graduation Party Filled Weekend!\u00a0 You deserve it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn from my (and my friends’) mistakes in college By Kelly Hockenberry, Columnist, The Times Congratulations Class of 2014!\u00a0 What a milestone!\u00a0 Now, on to the next chapter!\u00a0 You have so much to look forward to! Talk to anyone over the age of thirty and they will undoubtedly tell you that college was the \u201cbest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[245,7],"tags":[1445,5628,1446,2683,5659],"class_list":["post-22269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-featured","tag-advice","tag-class-of-2014","tag-graduates","tag-life","tag-starting-college"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}