She’s Berries, Baby

There were two professors like this in my department and I was one of like 20 people who was taught by both of them so there was a very small gang of us who knew that Professor Brick Wall and Professor Overshare were married with two kids.

Imagine your otp

THIS IS GOLDEN

So school is hard…

any advice for someone with anxiety, who lives at home, in their first year of college?

As someone in their third year of college, with anxiety, who lives at home, I suggest making one or two friends per class in case you miss a day. Making friends can be hard with anxiety, but there’s always that person with a friendly face and a T-shirt you recognize that will probably be willing to talk.

It’s perfectly acceptable to have a mental breakdown come midterms or finals. You’re not alone.

Drink. Water.

Do all the readings. ALL. THE. READINGS.

Two words: minimal participation. You’ll still get your points but you won’t worry about it. Your hands might shake for ten minutes afterward, but at least you did it.

Email is your friend. Don’t like talking face-to-face with professors? Email. Classmates? Email.

Side note: check your email every day.

Did I mention drink water?

Literally no one is judging you. They’re all too busy stressing over their own lives.

Professors are often VERY accommodating. They probably WANT to help you. (There are always exceptions but in general they’re great people.

I see people wearing their pajamas all the time at school. Literally no one cares.

Stay in touch with high school friends. Hang out whenever possible.

All-nighters will happen. Make sure to have as few as possible. Sleep is SO important.

Your advisor knows more than you about the complicated student portal. Get help.

Ask questions. Odds are someone else has the same question.

Anxiety’s tough. Find a way to manage it. Swim. Read. Write. Box. Run. Something.

Drink water.

Keep an umbrella on hand. And chargers.

Dress for the weather. Boots, coats, etc.

If I think of any more I’ll add them.

Personal Note: This past season has hit me good, because last season they were Seniors in HS trying to navigate graduating and the spn, and I was also watching it as a senior. Now they are 18, and trying to move on with their lives and I'm 18 trying to go to college and feeling like a failure. Even though this show deals with the spn, I am connected deeply with these characters on a more personal level. This show has its ups and downs but in the end these are KIDS trying to figure out the heck they are doing. Same as every kid on the planet.

This needs to be rebloggable …

number 9 tho

number fucking 9. there was a dude that would play his guitar outside of my window at 1 am all the time

Some bits that I’ve picked up:

There’s a general rule of college that if you were sitting in that seat for over two weeks, that is your seat. Not many if any professors have seating arrangements but switching seats will fuck everyone up.

Get there early and stay late. As soon as you get home you will not want to do shit. Stay on campus and do some homework while you’re in the environment.

SIT UP FRONT. The best way to start understanding something is to listen to someone talk about it and you can’t do that from the back of the class trying to listen over everyone whispering to each other. LISTENING WILL MAKE HOMEWORK SO MUCH EASIER. 

Be childish, but be respectful. Have a massive snowball fight across campus, but don’t aim for anyone not taking part. 

SHUT THE FUCK UP IN THE LIBRARY. Some people work there, some people sleep there. It is a quiet space. 

Don’t be afraid to talk to professors. They are not there to flunk you. They would rather you pass than not.

IF YOU NEED TUTORING GET TUTORING DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU’VE DUG YOURSELF INTO YOUR GRAVE.

Get involved. It will help you make friends, give you new skills to learn, and even help you get a leg up in the work place if you know the right people.

I will add to this as a GTA:

   Take time for yourself—buy a planner, figure out when your best study hours are, figure out WHERE you study best, and figure out how much time you need to complete an assignment—AND THEN make sure to pencil in an hour for video games, some time to watch a TV show, or time to just lay on your floor and blow bubbles. Whatever you like. Don’t forget about YOU.

  SLEEP. EAT. DRINK WATER. Don’t die. Caffeine =/= sleep. I cannot emphasize that this much. 

    AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:

  COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR INSTRUCTORS! If you’re sick, shoot an e-mail and say “Hey, I’m sick today. Can I set up a time to talk to you about what I missed?” If you’ve got a good opportunity (scholarships, to go to another country, to check out a cool lecture, etc.) let your prof know ahead of time. If you just need time to work on projects, all it takes is an e-mail. We understand. I gave a student a free skip day because he e-mailed me and said “Hey, look, I have two massive tests and a project due and I need the time to study.” And THAT IS OKAY.

   However, sometimes you just need a personal day, and you know what, when you wake up and getting out of bed seems like the worst idea ever….just turn off your alarm and get that sleep.

Some additionally tid-bits that might help you 

Addons—

Try to make sure you leave an open hour around midday so that you have time to get food in you. A lot of people forget to do this. If you have to have back to back classes, check your syllabus or with your teacher—some midday classes allow you to bring in a drink and a snack. Some will even allow you a full meal.

If you can get an online/pdf copy of the book without busting the bank, DO IT. Sometimes there are even annotated versions online. This can make notetaking a shitton easier, because you can highlight printed-out versions of the book and they won’t dock you on the money back. Sometimes professors move through their lecture too fast for you to write stuff down. Shrugging off that old ‘don’t ruin your books’ rule you had in high school may be your only hope.

UNLESS YOU NEED THEM OR REALLY WANT TO KEEP THEM TRY TO SELL BACK YOUR BOOKS—maybe even offer them online to incoming students. You won’t get nearly the worth of them but someone after you will thank you a million times over for providing a used copy. If you take good notes, you can sometimes buy/sell those as well. A lot of professors teach literally the same class every time.

IF YOUR PROFESSOR PUTS NOTES ONLINE GET THEM. GET THEM NOW. TRUST ME. YOU WANT THOSE NOTES. Bring them in with you if it’s possible to get them before class.

Keep change on hand. Always.

The Best Way To Make Friends:

Bring a printer with you to college and offer to print people’s stuff for half of what the school does or for free if you can afford it.

Carry around small candies with you and offer them to people while waiting outside of class. If you are the ‘candy person’ this gives you an in for starting conversations.

Buy a jumbo pack of chalk and find an open sidewalk on a free day. Write the words ‘Come draw with me?’ and begin doodling.

Have a pack of cards.

Last But Not Least: if you go onto campus and you can’t find what you’re looking for, and you are afraid to go up to someone and ask, find an open, well-populated area, hold your schedule/map in hand, and walk in circles for a few minutes, looking up and around in obvious confusion. Other students know this body language well. Someone will stop and point you in the right direction. (if you are worried that the person’s directions are a joke or faulty, wait for them to leave and take up the stance again; if the directions match-up the second time, they’re legit; do not allow a person to ‘show you the way’ unless EVERY STEP is along an obvious walkway, just in case)

For those of you who fear assault, most campuses aren’t much for small blades or mace. Carry a pocket air horn or a hand bag of those little pop-rock fireworks unless you can get a concealed weapons permit.