Remebering the days of College life, the homeworks, the projects, the thesis, the gimmicks, the fun and the circle of friends we have. Sometimes, we cant help but reminisce those moments and wish that we could turn back time, either to change something or do something…

Somehow it has been considered as a four or five year struggle with books, strict professors, never ending projects, quizes and other stressful activities that molded us as a person today. A symbol of complete freedom and Self-Discovery….But we know that all of those things made us what we are now, in this thing called life!

Here are some of the things, the usual lessons we have learned during our college days…

• Dealing with Boredom – During college, boredom is one of the things we encounter, and we usually get bored on the tasks given to us. But since we are free, we can do what ever we want, we can cope up to every boredom challenges we face as we have those friends that we can influence anytime… either to drink, watch a movie, cut classes or do some chick hunting.  But still, there are priorities that needs to be set during college and that is the time we decide for ourselves, do we need to be a happy-go-lucky person?  Nowadays, when you are working, boredome should not be the key to be irresponsible on your work.  If you are bored with your job, you always have a choice to look for another or just stay bored all the time…

• Living on Tough Spaces – I remembered when i was in college, i only have 50 bucks to spend for the whole day, 30 bucks for the fare and 20 bucks to be spent for food, i cannot afford to go to dorms during that time so i need to travel 2-3 hours. I cant imagine how in the world i survived but I managed to.  Some of us had the chance to live in an apartment or a dorm near to the school. And most of those people managed to live in tough spaces as they share the room, they share the toilets, enduring the noise and staying on a crowded and messy place.. also we need to work and live with people that we don’t necessarily like, you know how to deal with it, right? That was a college lesson.

• Problem Solving/Critical Thinking - This is one of the best lessons I have learned during college Days, It was on my Integral Calculus Class when I was called by my professor to answer the problem, since i was one of his naughty students i was caught red handed. I have not reviewed at all and have no idea on the topic, there I was standing in front of the board, squeezing everything on my mind…  after almost an hour, the bell rang and there i was, feeling stupid as my classmates pack their things… and My Professor just smiled at me…. When i got home, i concentrated for a while and said to my self, i would never be embarrased again…. Then after a few days… i got an almost perfect score on one of our quizzes and my Professor thought that i have cheated…. Then the time came when He called me again to answer another question. Though I am not that prepared, I was able to analyze the problem and answered it within 15 minutes…. Its not knowing the question but to think and analyze for the solution. Not just memorizing the steps but dealing on how to solve any given task. No matter how you twist and turn the problem, you can still have the solution.

• Social Drinking – Almost 90% of people who go to college never missed any event of social drinking. The modern professional is presented with plenty of opportunities to have a few pints, pitchers, or cocktails after work. If you didn’t go to college and learn that there’s always a time and a place for this type of event, you may not have been able to control yourself.  It is bad to go to work smelling like a “chico” or being late with a “hangover” and generally being unproductive..

• Socializing – One of the lessons to be learned when you are in college…. is to socialize, you may never know that maybe one of your classmates would be the next CEO of company or maybe He/She may get a high position in one of the fields you are at with. Having friends and contacts even when you are now working improves your life and may gain oppurtunities. A business partner or even a friend that can help you land a good job. Who knows…?

• Managing Finances and Debt - Not everything we learn in college is fun, it is really hard to move when you are on a tight budget, so you need to find a way to save and be wise spending on those branded shirts, cool shoes and expensive gadgets. Even you are working part-time, it makes things complicated.  I remembered I worked as a service crew at McDonald’s during my college years and the problem I usually encounter is saving extra money. Because it would be a big problem if i dont have any spare when ever you are 50 miles away from home and no one to ask for help….As an employee now, we need to work on the credit cards and shopping spree, or else we will fall into big debt…

• Appreciating Vacation - And here is the fun part.. Vacation, every Semestral Break, you have the time to go out of town with Friends, go mountain climbing, Sleep over to a friends house and drink till the break of dawn, with no worries.  We’ll as long as you think that you wont get a 5 on your classcard after two weeks… And if you are working now, You would definitely miss those free time, sleeping all day and watching movies and just lying in your room…If you find to be lazy to go to work, you need to file a leave… and if you are just making reasons for a sickness, there would still be hassles along the way…Get a medical certificate for crying out load.. Unless you have a doctor in the family.. That would be easy….

• Writing and Communication Skills – one of the common problems especially on the IT field, most techies are good on hands-on application but sometimes worse when it comes to writing and communicating.  One thing I learned during college days is to speak and somehow write well. I never had a doubt that I would be using these skills if i’d be working for a good company and indeed it paid off…:)

• Time Management - This is a very important lesson, When in college or even on the secondary and primary school days, we are being trained not to be late and do things in an organized manner. If our class starts at 7am, then we plan things 2 or 3 hours before considering the distance and preparation we need to do. Same when we are now an employee.  When our time is 7am, we should be responsible to wake up early, anticipate the traffic and compose ourselves to do our job well.

• Continue Learing – I still remember my professor in College (Engr. Limos) told our class “After college, life does not stop there, as well as learning new things and learning new skills, it is always a continuous process, you will not succeed if you stop learning…” And he is true… learning new things everyday will make you succeed in this life. I usually dont close my eyes everynight if i dont acquire or learn something during the whole day i lived.

There are other values that we can learn during college days and so many friends to be with but let us face it, not just because you have High grades or graduated in college with flying colors does not mean that you will be successful, it is always the determination, the patience and willingness of the person to be successful.

Would you like to share some of your college days lessons?