Before I dive on in to my favorite moments from my 2017 senior portraits, I wanted to share some advice from personal experience with you all! So without further ado here are 10 Things I Wish I Would Have Known Before College!

 

1. You’re going to lose touch with people & that’s okay.

It happens. I know that you don’t think it will but I didn’t either. Sometimes it’s gradual and sometimes it’s a painful ending. Either way it was inevitable.

I can promise you this though and that is that you will end up meeting some of the most amazing people in college. My MSU friends are apart of my everyday life and I cannot imagine myself without them. I already picture them coming to visit me when I have children and vice versa. We’ve gone through the same finals struggles, the same painful breakups, and all of the chips and queso together. You can’t have the same relationships with people from high school as you do in college. If you’re able to do that together with some, that’s great! However, if the relationship doesn’t work out how you thought it would, that’s okay. Focus all of your energy on the new people that have been put in your life and love them well.

 

2. Your high school study habits are not good enough.

I cannot stress this enough. If you made a 4.0 in high school, that’s awesome! I wish you many academic scholarships, but understand that college is hard. So. Very. Hard. It’s taken me a full three years just to figure out the best way for me to study and I did not mess around freshmen or sophomore year. It takes a ton of dedication no matter what your major is. It’s worth it for sure but prepare yourself for a couple of mental breakdowns. You are smart enough and you will graduate but you’re going to cry first.

 

3. Communication is key (Utilize Office Hours!)

College professors are generally pretty amazing. I’m kind of spoiled because my VMT professors are actually the most extraordinary, gracious, intelligent women that God created. No seriously. I would not have survived this far without them. You know how I got to know them so well? I talked to them! When I had a question about a concept, I went to their office hours whenever possible to figure out what I didn’t understand and how I could do better. I promise that most professors appreciate your effort and want you to succeed.

 

4. It’s okay if you don’t rush & it’s wonderful if you do.

This is so important y’all. If you are not in a sorority don’t you dare judge girls who are. If you are in a sorority don’t you dare think less of girls who are not. It’s not for everyone and it’s perfect for some people. That’s okay! One of my very best friends is in a sorority and I am not. It does not affect our relationship whatsoever. I did go through rush and I decided that spending $3500 a semester was not suitable for me. Some girls have families that are able to pay these fees without any worries at all, and I think that is wonderful. I would love for my daughter to rush and pledge to a group of young women that make her feel confident. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that and if she decides she does not want to, I will love her just the same. So you do you boo!

 

5. Student loans are bad news.

Proverbs 22:7 says “The borrower is slave to the lender.” & so does Dave Ramsey. A lot. You don’t know who Dave Ramsey is? Well friend you need to Google him right away before you fork over your hard earned cash to Sallie Mae. If you don’t know who she is, let’s keep it that way. Anyway Dave says this proverb over and over because it’s true! I cannot stress this enough. It’s just not worth it. One of the biggest reasons I decided to pursue VMT School rather than vet school was due to the fact I did not want to spend 200k on school. It’s extremely discouraging to me how mainstream student loans are now. I do not agree with this mentality at all and I would highly encourage taking a few different avenues for your college finances. First, you can start saving TODAY. Second, apply for scholarships like it’s your job. Another way you can cash flow your way through school is to get a job. That might seem obvious but I’m talking about a real job that pays more than minimum wage. Jannah Alexander Photography is the only way I would be able to get myself through school at this time. If you don’t think you can do it, I promise you can! Lord knows, I never thought I would be able to make enough money in school to pay for tuition but I did and you can too. If you would like to find out more information on real ways to graduate debt free read “The Graduate Survival Guide: 5 Mistakes You Can’t Afford To Make In College” by Anthony Oneal and Rachel Cruze. You can purchase it here!

6. You don’t have to party every night to have a “college” experience.

Some of my favorite experiences of college especially my freshmen year had absolutely nothing to do with alcohol. If you feel bad almost that you don’t have a desire to drink in college, that’s perfectly fine. No one will force you too. In fact, some of the people I am closest with don’t drink at all and are older than 21. They just choose not to which is fine. Even still, the nights I stay up until 3:00 A.M. with my friends playing cards mean so much more to me than any club experience or frat party. College is what you make it. The memories you’ll experiences will be yours and yours alone so do what’s best for you not what culture portrays college to be!

 

7. Freshmen 15 is real but not as real as the Sophomore Slump.

Yikes! Now this one really sucks to talk about but it’s true too. Freshmen year is extremely rough on your body especially if you live on campus. I absolutely hated having to pick up all of my pots and pans, bring them to the dorm kitchen, cook, and bring them all the way back to my room. You know what was easier than doing all that? Chick-fil-A, that’s what. It definitely took a toll on my body but the good news is you can control it. You don’t have to live in a dorm all four years and even if you do, you still just need to try. Your food is your fuel so be cautious of what you put in your body. For the record though, I will almost always go get queso with my friends after a rough finals week. Now, I just make sure that healthy portions of vegetables as well as exercise take up the majority of my lifestyle and not the beauty that is Mexican food. Vegetables and exercise were absolutely not a priority my freshmen year of college and I would encourage you to make them one.

 

 

        8. Your education is more important than any boy.

When I first started college I was engaged to married to the love of my life. We spent the first year and a half of my college experience as a long distance couple and it was extremely difficult. He was in Louisiana and I was three and a half hours away in Mississippi. So many people asked, “When are transferring to LSU?” or “Why did you decide to move so far away?” The truth is being next to Hunter all the time was not what was best for me, getting my education was. I am very proud that I stuck by that decision even though we spent so long apart. Because in the end, he was the right person and it worked out. I got the guy and the degree! Well almost, 354 more days! My biggest lesson here is to never ever go to a school because of a significant other. Go to school on where the education is best for you. If it’s meant to be, you will end up together.

 

        9. You will miss your roots at some point.

I know right now that you think that you may never ever go back to your hometown, but you will. It may take a couple of months of finding yourself at college and thinking “Why would I want to go back to that place?” but you’ll go back eventually. It’s okay if you have no desire to stay for more than a couple of days but eventually you need to go back. You need to appreciate the place that molded you into the person that loves where you are now. Don’t forget about it completely; take pride in the fact you moved forward to something new!

 

       10. Get out of your comfort zone!

I’ll leave you with some final advice and that is to just try something new even if it scares you. If you ever have the thought that you’re not good enough or it won’t be worth trying, you’re wrong! Some of my most rewarding experiences in college have been the times when I thought there was no way I’d be able to do it. I can count on one hand how many people I knew when I came to Starkville, MS. I was scared and honestly pretty lonely. Then, I tried. I got out of my comfort zone and made the effort. Now I’m the president of the Veterinary Technology Program here at MSU, have so many relationships with extraordinary people that will last a lifetime, and three years worth of memories that no one can take away from me. Believe me friend; you just have to get out there! You’ll be surprised what you can do when you try.

 

Ladies, I wish you all the very best and can’t wait to see what your college experiences look like! Now go out there and conquer the world!