What is one tip you would have told the College you to follow?

Hi Anthony,

I really love these"in hindsight" questions as they force me to think how I would have done college differently. I think as a whole I am very pleased with how I navigated college but there are definitely a few things that I would change if I could.

I wish I took more classes outside of my major an interests. I was an International Affairs major/Chinese minor and I largely only took classes that pertained to those subjects. Sure it made things very straight forward and pretty easy, but I definitely wished I branched out more. I took this one class about Japanese film and it was probably my favorite class. It was too bad I took it my senior year as I did not have the chance to take other Japanese film classes. I was really bummed out and frustrated with myself my senior year as it finally hit me that I didn't fully explore my university's course offerings.

I also wish I got out of my dorm more freshman+sophomore year. I didn't spend a ton of time indoors by any means and I was not some recluse, but there were times were I was chilling in my dorm where I wish I was out doing more things with friends/exploring. The first two years of college are the most social as people are not yet looking for full time jobs and taking graduate school exams and you should use those years to really explore, meet people and develop friendships. I developed a great group a friends freshman year and they are still my best friends to this day. I wish I was more active my freshman+sophomore year though as 4 years goes by quickly and the stress of finding a full time job occurs much sooner than expected.

Last but not least, I wish I took more pictures. This is kind of odd but hear me out. I definitely have lots of pictures of my time in college on my laptop/on Facebook, but I wish I took more. I am a visual person and pictures help me remember moments and certain memories. I hate to think that I would forget good moments in college all because I did not take a picture to capture that moment. You will make many memories in four years and there is no way that you will be able to remember each and every one of those moments. Taking pictures will help you remember aspects of college for the rest of your life and it is something that I wish I did more of during my four years.

Four years in college honestly goes by crazy quick and you don't want to look back at your time saying "I wish I did X differently". To avoid this feeling of regret, don't hesitate to do something as you never know when you will have that opportunity again. Some opportunities come up frequently, while others are only a one time thing. You honestly really never know so really take advantage of any and all opportunities.

I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck!!

Best,

Austin

Hi Anthony,

Great question. I graduated in 2013 so about 5 years ago I was in college. There are so many things that I could've done differently.

1. I wish I could've been more open in my freshman and sophomore years. In your early years of college life, the school really offers you a lot of opportunities to meet new people and try new things. What I would recommend students is to say "yes" to things in the first three months. Either going to a student group event or simply having lunch/dinner together in the cafeteria.
2. Be open-minded. The universities have become more and more open and international. There are students from all over the country/world and also study abroad programs for you to go somewhere exotic. I wish I could've tried to learn as much as I can from that aspect, meaning going to all kinds of different student clubs, be more open-minded to meet people from different places and don't be afraid to ask questions. This will definitely help you after you graduate and join the workforce.

Hope this helps and good luck with everything!

Yujian