How College Secretly Prepares Us for The Real World

Do you believe that school can never be as close to what the real world is like as no textbook can ever equip you on what life after college is?

I did! I did believe that! But what if I told you there can be a possibility that a textbook of such can exist?

Few days of reminiscing my college days, I began to realize that there were important things that I have learned which helped me and can be a future benefit for me as I graduated. After 10,000 years, I finally finished page 1 for the textbook called 101 Survival Guide to Real World (College Edition) hahaha.

As a generous person, I will give it to you so you can carry it on your journey through continuous betterment. Treasure it because I believe it’s more expensive than a Hermes bag as no experience can ever be bought hahaha. Here are the lessons that had me hold on for dear life and I hope you learn from it too.

1.) Lesson 88

I believe all of us students or ex-students now had different challenges in our academic career, but we all had the common goal and that is to pass quizzes, exams, and thesis to graduate. I remembered the time when I was at the edge of failing because I was too relaxed about this certain major subject. I was extremely worried, I knew I needed to pass the last test. I had to get an 88 to succeed even though for me it was quite hard compared to my past scores. I even wrote the number 88 and kept tracing it over and over thinking is it possible?. However, I finally chose to challenge myself instead of crying in the corner (like always hahaha) and stopped thinking about “I'm a failure and I will never pass” and shift to “How am I going to pass and get an 88!?” It showed how powerful a mindset can be as I was motivated.

I studied hard as ever in my life with my friends!. As judgment day came, guess what? Score?: “88” passed!! I was so proud of that small triumph and realized that failure is when you stop trying and accept defeat especially when the fight has not begun yet (as my best friend, Anne, would say).

It is a choice of whether you give up and be a failure forever, or you stand up and focus on accomplishing your goals to success. It’s either live the dream or just dream in fear.

2.) “Hell”o Week

I believe this is the annual or monthly hunger games for students with the task of juggling presentations, exams, and oral recitations at the same time that you wouldn’t even think about sleeping anymore cause you're busy thinking how to survive the week and avoid the cannon (talk about last man standing)! It was tiring, and breakdowns were usual; but as we have been busting our brains to finish until the end, there was a blessing in disguise. As another continuous wave of exams and project hordes paved its way, my block mates and I began to be calmer. We didn’t feel much pressure than before! It was like “Hello hell week? *swish* Oh you’re done?” while drinking a cup of tea.

This experience made me develop a vital skill called time management and realized the importance of work-life balance. It can be a great advantage in real life as you work, have a business, study, be with family while remaining like a sane normal human being with maximum productivity and composure trust me!

3.) Professor Y

We had a professor that always had tons and tons of home works! (Professor Y!!? get the pun?) Probably one of the reasons why our university was the university of abundant papers. It was, of course, frustrating but we learned so much by being hands-on while the other block had a chill professor and they told us they were barely learning anything. I thought to myself that sometimes things are better learned the hard way with hands-on experience because it trains us well. In real life, the struggles or challenges become harder so when criticisms or hardships face you, think of it positively and see what you can learn from it to be better.

4.) Mentor

Who here agrees that there will always be the one in your group that is the best in math, science or arts? *raises my hands*. Well, let me tell you, keep them! Not because you use them to do your homework or get notes! (well prob one of the reasons too hahaha joke!) but it's to have the opportunity to learn and become each other’s support system. Remember lesson 88? My friends were the reason I passed because of our study group!

In life we always get to be challenged especially in the fields we don’t know anything about. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and know the people for the right job. Take this for example, you need a new decoration for your new apartment; call your interior designer friend on what she thinks. In today’s generation, knowledge is power so instead of being intimidated with people who are smarter than you, be open to learning from them! But take note: the most important thing is to choose those who you can call true friends because the hardest thing in life is going through an emotional crisis wherein you will really need someone to be there no matter what.

5.) Love Yourself

There was a time in college that I literally forgot my well-being. I would sleep late, not eat breakfast, and drink lots of coke float. The result? Pimples, fatigue, moodiness, acidity, and the list goes on; but in short, my mom told me I became “ugly” (thanks ma!). When I came to class, I looked like a zombie. When I listened to the professor, my mind and stomach would fight and when my classmates would disturb me I wanted to kill them all (PEACE HAHA!). My overall productivity, beauty (LOL), and intellect were at its lowest. This showed me that the number one thing in life is to take care of yourself because if you're unhealthy, you won’t be able to do anything even though how hard you try.

6.) Free Cut, Suspension, or Just No School Time

Back in college, I always wanted to take an internship, baking lessons, or even start my own blog but I kept on making excuses like I did not have time. Then looking back, I had tons of time but was just too lazy (dang Netflix). So yes, I regret wasting it. I could have done things that have benefited me. In real life, whether it’s a day off or just breaks, you have the choice to use your time well. Either finish your novel, try the new pizza place, or catch up on your loved ones' activities, the main point is: time is gold. Treasure every second of it. When you use your time wisely, your future self will thank you. We don’t live once, we just live like there’s no tomorrow.

7.) Chase Your Dream

When I was in high school, I was the shy girl who barely spoke anything. I confess I denied having an interest in singing and dancing because I believed that I was not good enough and people might judge me saying “who the hell does she thinks she is?”, even though secretly I always held a concert in the shower hahaha. Then in college, I vowed to be different and tried to join our singing and dance organizations wherein surprisingly, I got in. It was a great experience, I got tons of exposure and had met great people too!. I learned not to limit myself in what I was passionate about and must go where I felt happy.

Especially after graduating, I have to choose a career wherein I will mostly feel passionate about it as it will be the reason I wake up every day and will direct me to who I truly want to be. I know that even if some people may disagree with what I choose, the number one thing is that I must believe in myself because no one knows me more than myself. It is my life and it is the way I want to live. I just must focus on those supportive people who surprisingly came up along the way 😉

8.) Choice

In the end, the most important thing, combining the above lessons, is “choice”. The choice to get back up, the choice to take risks, the choice to act, and the choice to drive your life. In my college life, there were things I regretted; but life is a continuous learning cycle. It is your “CHOICE” to learn and become better or end up regretting and thinking 'what if I had chosen differently?'; because from the moment you choose your school, dorm, and friends, destiny will do the rest as it does in real life.

There it is, my first four pages of my book, 101 Survival Guide to the Real World. I’m thinking about making a page five soon so subscribe to be updated and of course to discover more helpful posts!

So how about you? Do you have your tips to add to the expensive Book 101 Survival Guide to the Real World and help others? If you would like to share it that would be great! I’ll be waiting to hear!

Love,

Mz. Nina🎓