College can be an amazing opportunity if used the right way. You get to learn many new things, including new ways to learn, and also meet people from all walks of life. If you’re not careful, however, it’s easy to get carried away and make some bad decisions. While some of them can be slept off and become forgotten in a mere week or so, others will follow you for a long time after those carefree college years. If you’re getting ready to get into college and would like to know what some of the most common mistakes are so that you can avoid them, read on and try not to make the worst mistake in a moment of misplaced fun.
1. Indulging in Drugs
One of the things that could quite easily be the worst mistake that a freshman college student is indulging in drugs. There’s admittedly a lot of pressure in terms of something like experimenting with recreational drugs in college, especially at parties and social gatherings in general. That said, it’s important to maintain your resolve when it comes to resisting the urge to take part in drug use. It may be tempting to think that a single use may not mean a lot, but it could set you down a slippery slope if you’re not careful.
Something that you take for fun every other weekend could easily become a habit that you end up struggling to maintain. While there’s typically easy access to an addiction counselor in practically every college, denial may see you resist seeking the help that you need. As a result of this, a good number of college students develop costly drug habits that negatively impact their future. This may be as a result of developing a lifelong drug habit, graduating with poor grades, or even failing to graduate altogether.
2. Partying too Hard
Another mistake competing for the position of the worst mistake college freshmen make is partying too hard.There’s no doubt about the fact that with new-found freedom, most college students will typically want to have the most fun that they possibly can. This is a natural part of life since everyone needs to take a break and unwind at some point. However, when the partying gets out of hand, this is when the issue begins. It’s important to remember the main reason for enrolling in college in the first place, which is to try and make a brighter future for oneself through education.
Partying too hard will inevitably leave you with no time to study, and this is the easiest way to get poor grades, or worse, get discontinued and not qualify to graduate. With too much partying comes the risk of an overuse of drugs, which is something else that can wreck your future. It’s important to be aware of the resources that can help you as a college student in terms of this. One of these is young adult addiction treatments, which can help you turn your life around and make an improvement if you put your heart to it and commit to improving.
3. Choosing the Wrong Major
Something else that may very well be the worst mistake that a college student could make is choosing the wrong major. This will actually have a direct effect on the way your future turns out. This is because picking the wrong major could lock you out of the career of your dreams if you won’t have the necessary qualifications. That said, it’s crucial to think about the details of the career that you’d like to pursue in the future. Work out which majors you’ll need to help you with this so that you can set the right foundation for your future.
Keep in mind that you need to start preparing as early as possible if you want to have a good chance of ending up in the future that you envision for yourself. Ask your professors and other people in the field you which to pursue about the necessary educational qualifications so that you know this well in advance. Picking the wrong major could see you waste any preparation you may have made earlier on, including getting enrolled in the best early childhood education program by your parents. That said, try and make sure that you know what awaits you so that you know how to prepare for it.
4. Going to the Wrong School
While there may be a few valid reasons for this step that could very well be the worst mistake you make in college, it’s still a major issue. Going to the wrong school could see you miss out on an academic standard that would have helped you earn a spot in your dream college. You could end up in a college that doesn’t offer the education and skills that you need to build to a successful future in which you land your dream job. This is the main reason why it’s a good idea to go to a private school.
Most private schools have amazing standards of education. This is evidenced by the fact that, on average, most college students come from private schools than from public schools. That said, if you have any input in terms of the school that you’ll be sent to by your parents, the best choice is a good private school.
5. Ignoring Mental Health
This should count as the worst mistake that most people make, at a crucial point of their lives or another, and not just in college. That said, make sure to prioritize your mental health while in college. While college is generally considered to be one of the happiest periods in most people’s lives, it can also be quite stressful. That’s because there are many new experiences taking place, and for most people, they get to be alone for the first time in their early adult years.
Among other things, having to be responsible for your own decisions can be a heavy burden to bear. This is especially the case when you consider that these decisions are bound to have real-life consequences. While many a college student might intend to take care of their mental health, finances might get in the way. To make sure that this is not a likely issue for you, it’s a good idea to look into insurance coverage that will enable you to get the health care that you need, both mental and physical.
6. Failing to Budget
This could also count as the worst mistake that most people make in their lives in general, and not just in college. This is because an inability to budget will see you suffer through life as a result of issues with your finances. While taking advantage of your new-found freedom, it’s important that you also learn all that you can about finances, from taxes to budgeting. That’s because this may be the best chance that you have to do this since you’ll typically head right into work after college.
Start learning with the limited funds that you may have in college so that you get a good idea of what the process may be like in the future. If you get a job while in college as well, this will give you an even better opportunity to understand the details of financial management. With some skills and planning, you could even make some savings that will help you sail through the period between college and your first job without a lot of stress. This should help you get a soft landing and make adulthood after college a bit less stressful.
7. Forgetting Car Maintenance
You need to make sure that your car is in a good state all through, given the important role that it plays in your life. Forgetting about car maintenance can prove to be the worst mistake you make for your comfort. Even worse is the fact that this habit may persist after college. When you don’t maintain your car as you should, it’s going to break down a lot more often, fail to function optimally, and generally cost you a lot of money that you could have saved. These are all reasons that should motivate you to figure out the necessary maintenance that your car needs and work on them.
In the course of learning about vehicle maintenance, you may find that you can actually handle some maintenance tasks yourself. This is going to not only make it more efficient for you to take care of your car, but more affordable as well. When you deal with the less complex matters, you can leave things such as auto brake repair to a good auto mechanic that you know. When you do this, you may get maximum service from your vehicle and not even have to spend money on getting another one when you leave college.
8. Ignoring Studies
Studies are ideally the main reason for going to college, so ignoring them is the worst mistake that you could make without a doubt. With proper time management, you can actually have a fulfilling time in college. For instance, if you enjoy dancing, you can sign up for dance class and learn how to dance while allocating enough time to your main coursework and assignments. This way, you’re going to get the maximum benefits from attending college and can have a very fulfilling experience.
Learning how to manage your time properly is an important skill that will help you throughout life. This is a good reason why you need to start practicing now. With proper time-management and the fulfilling outcome of your college years, you can be sure that the memories you’ll have of your college years will be amazing.
9. Getting Bad Tattoos
Tattoos are becoming more popular, and as a result, more acceptable. That said, you don’t want to get a tattoo that you have to hide both in official settings and social settings because it’s simply terrible. Getting bad tattoos can turn out to be the worst mistake that you make during your college years, and it will be made even more regretful if you actually paid for them. This is the reason why it’s best that you think about any tattoos that you get, or, better yet, out off getting tattoos for a later stage in your life.
While there’s a potential solution in the form of laser tattoo removal, it’s important to note that this process is not cheap, and might be even more painful than getting the tattoo. Generally, it’s a great idea that you think long and hard about any tattoo that you want to get. Additionally, remember that if yu go to get a tattoo done with the thought that you can always remove it anyway, it might be best to hold off on getting it in the first place.
10. Opening Credit Card Accounts
The final worst mistake that you might make during your college years is to open a credit card account or two. This is a bad idea because at this point in life, you most likely don’t have serious issues that call for immediate access to cash at all times. It’s also quite easy to end up splurging on wasteful purchases and end up with unwarranted debt. This may impact your credit score, and it’s generally quite hard to try and rebuild it, especially at a time when you’re doing it in urgency.
That said, try and practice how you can live without credit card accounts. This is something that you may end up being quite happy to be able to do in the future. Remember to also learn about things like bankruptcy law so that you know some of the things you can do to avoid going bankrupt as well as what to do should this happen to you.
If you can avoid making these 10 mistakes in your college years, you may have a brighter future ahead of you. Try your best to avoid giving in to pressure that could cause you to do something that you suspect you might regret in the future. If you can manage to do this, you’re likely to look back on your college years with warmth rather than with regret.