My first semester is nearing its conclusion and it has been really tough ride. If I only had a chance to go back in time, I would give myself these 5 tips; review earlier, step up, be more active, be more persistent, do not lose confidence.
Review Earlier
During the first few months and first exams, I really did not bother much to review. I believe that I am capable of passing without intensive reviewing and I failed to realize that I am no longer in San Jose City, my comfort zone. I had such low grades in my exams, grades that I’ve never got in my previous years. I wish that I could’ve told my early self that I should review early and not cram any exam because UP is much different from what I got used to.
Step Up
This tip is like a continuation of the first tip. Stepping out is really necessary here in UP because anyone who is still in his comfort zone will surely by shocked and shot down by unexpected things in UP. I would yell at my earlier self, “hoy umalis ka na jan!”
Be more active
DevCom is about being involved with the community and with people, it is really necessary to be active and involved. I was active but now I realized that it was not active enough. If I were to go back, I would tell myself to be more active as a student in class, in the university, and in the college.
Be more persistent
Keep driving towards the goal! These past few months I lost my drive and I lost my persistence. If I were to go back, I would tell myself that I need to keep striving and not give up. College will really break a student’s drive if he/she fails to keep a burning passion for what he/she is doing.
Do not lose confidence
Another thing that college can break is confidence, I know because it broke mine during the hell weeks. But I thank God, my family, and loves ones because I was able to get my confidence back and continue the fight in college.
I can’t imagine that five months have passed since I started studying at the University of the Philippines. Remembering the things that happened in those five months make me laugh and sad and make me think that I should have done better if I knew better. But I can’t bring back the past for me to change it the way I want. But what I can do, is to be better.
Listed below are the five things that I should have done to be better.
I can’t count the number of times when I missed opportunities to say my thoughts out loud; thoughts that should have helped me to do much better, thoughts that should make people think that I CAN think and HAVE brilliant ideas, and thoughts that should have changed the turn of events that happened in my life. I often think that every thought that runs in my mind is wrong or will make other people think I’m stupid.
I should be more confident in myself and start thinking about positive things. I should not be afraid to make mistakes, because these mistakes can teach me lessons and make me so much better than my old self.
For the past semester, I spent a month being alone. Not all the time of day, but most of the time. I stuck with the people that I already knew. I was afraid to approach people and be close to them, for I think that they won’t like me or welcome me in their group. There was a time when I thought it’s okay; when I thought that I can survive the semester without being friends with others, but I thought it wrong, facing my problems is impossible without any friends. Thank God that He gave me people that I can be with for the whole semester.
I was used to planning what I should do in my mind, but don’t do it. I was always planning that I will do this on this day, this at this time, this at this hour. But none of that ever happened. I slept at those times that I planned to be productive.
These things resulted in me cramming all the time. This cramming gave me low-quality outputs.
In just a semester that I have experienced at the university, I always said the words “AYOKO NA”. If things get difficult to deal with or when I don’t know what to do anymore, my mind and body seem to give up. And when these times come, I always say, “Bahala na nga si Wonder Woman.”
When time is running out, I sit on our couch, stare on the laptop, and just do whatever the things I should do. When this happens, I tend to forget that I didn’t have the chance to eat dinner.
“We turn not older with years but newer every day.”
The first semester has been a roller-coaster ride. It made me realize a lot of things. I met new people and of course making friends with them. It has also been our time of adjustment. With that, here are some reminders and advice I wish I could tell my old self.
Put in more effort. Don’t cram! Don’t work on your requirements only when the deadline is near! It will save you from a lot of pressure. It will also help you make competent outputs. It will save you from a lot of low scores. Do your best in every activity. Please self, stop being lazy and put in more effort.
Grab every chance to learn. Don’t limit yourself to what you already know. Don’t be afraid to do things you aren’t good at as it will help you improve. If there is an opportunity to learn grab it if it doesn’t conflict with your priorities.
Manage your time. Know your priorities and keep them as priorities. When it’s time to study, then study. Set aside time to rest but don’t drift too much as you always lose your concentration. Also, keep in mind that you have multiple subjects, all equally important. Manage your time so you can tend to all of them.
Loosen up. Pressure, stress, and many more challenges we overcame and still will have to overcome next sem. Please self, loosen up. Rest when tired. Celebrate when needed. Also, learn to accept failures and rejections. Enjoy the process of learning.
Take care of your health. You’ve lost a lot of weight since you started college. Be more efficient and manage your time wisely so you won’t have to sacrifice your mealtime and sleep for your Acads. Your health is more important as you won’t be able to perform efficiently when having health problems.
I know you must be anxious right now – everything is a lot to take in, to consume. I know you believe that you do not deserve that seat reserved for you in that classroom. I know you are worried that you might be alone, doing things all by yourself. I know you are afraid to meet and to talk to people of different cultures, beliefs, and wavelengths. Trust me, it is okay to be doubtful but I promise that everything is going to be alright.
Tell them what you know and what you believe in. I understand that you are afraid to speak up whenever a teacher is asking a question in class. Maybe you are afraid that you might be wrong, or what you will say may find offensive by others, but the culture here in UP is tolerance and acceptance of diverse beliefs. They will accept what you will say as long as you let it out in a respectful manner. Do not be intimated by the way others speak, how eloquent they are or how substantial their answers are.
Don’t be afraid to speak up – if you are pro-life and anti-death penalty, if you support women empowerment and despise gender roles, and if you believe that the system is harmful to you and your colleagues’ mental health. Just make that first talk, and everything will follow. However, I would also like to remind you to never be too flashy, that you would always want the limelight on you. Education is not always about being the one favored to but is sometimes experiencing rejection and making mistakes.
It is okay to make your pace slower. Everything happens so fast in college. You would not even notice that it is finals week already. If there’s one thing that you would not want to regret, it is making every second, thought, and moment count. Live the moment as it only comes once in a while, you’re not getting any younger – go to parties, worship God, and spend quality time with your friends and family. Do not regret taking a 20-minute nap when you’re tired. Doing things with a clear and rested mind makes your outputs more creative and amazing.
Excellence does not mean perfection. Yes, I know that you recall that you were once one of the bests in high school, getting perfect scores here and there. In the university, it may hurt you to realize that you are not always the best anymore. Once you’re at the end of the semester, you will realize how worthy it is to celebrate a score of 80 in an exam. You will also know how important it is to remember that making mistakes does not make you less of an Iskolar ng Bayan. You will say ‘ugh, I almost made it’ a lot of times, but, believe me, everything that you have, as long as you did your best, is more than enough already.
Recall your purpose. There will be nights when you will choose to not sleep at all or to sacrifice the leisure time for yourself to study for an examination the next day. There might be times when you will be asking yourself, ‘to whom am I doing this for?’ or ‘to where is this leading?’, and those are good opportunities to reflect on your purpose. Always remember that you are here in UP because you want to be a lawyer and be self-sufficient in the future, to give back to your family, to be of service to the country, and to glorify God with your life. Those four things might be long-term goals, but, trust me, they are within reach.
Enjoy. Everything’s going to be stressful, and UP life is going to consume you, but hey, happiness is always a choice. It might be hard and cliché but looking for the brighter side of things has always been helpful in moving forward. Always welcome the day with a smile and seek joy from its constant source – Jesus. No matter what negative energy will lure you that day, your happy heart will never falter. When life’s difficulties bring you down, the joy of the Lord will be your undying source of strength.
Looking forward, you will just be surprised that you made it. Aha, it’s done! You will just laugh at the times you almost cried because your output takes a lot of time to turn in, or you were careless during an exam. Do not forget to bring those memories and lessons with you as you move on. Lastly, no matter where your wings will bring you, always keep your feet on the ground.
Hi! 1st sem is almost done and here you are, sick but still alive! I know you’ve been feeling bumped out because this is your round 2 on being a first year student since you’ve transferred out from your previous school but look at the bright side, that means you’ll be more ready for upcoming challenges! After experiencing 3 semesters, you’ll be tougher for another sem in UPLB.
You’ve been anxious ever since the thought of transferring to UP entered your head. The thought scared you. You thought little of yourself. You felt lost more than ever. But guess what? It wasn’t as bad as you thought. You weren’t the only one who lost your way. In fact, almost everyone is trying to search for themselves. So don’t be too hard on your self. You’ll know what I’m talking about once you’re in the actual battle field. But for now, here’s a little push to help you get through the first weeks of classes.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
this is you doing a weekly write while eating, in a conference…..
As you’ve read in the beginning, yes you’re sick at the moment. But don’t worry, you have no classes or exams anymore. BUT THEN AGAIN! Remember to take care of yourself. There will be times that you will barely have time for yourself but that doesn’t mean you should jeopardize your health. Eat. Sleep. Stay hydrated! Your performance in class is better when you’re in shape!
Put yourself out there
Don’t be shy. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t isolate yourself. JUST DON’T BE AFRAID OF PEOPLE. There will be times that you will need others. I know you want to be a strong, independent woman but independence doesn’t mean you should hide yourself in a cave. Make friends. Most of the people in UPLB are friendly.
YOU’LL get THROUGH
There will be times when you’ll just want to give up. The requirements are simultaneously piling up, there’s an exam/quiz the next day, and so many more things that could go wrong. No matter what challenges you face ahead, trust me, you’ll get through them. Who can you trust more than ever but yourself right?
this is you sleeping on a bench in OPark before an exam
YOU’RE NOT YOUR SCORES
You will study as hard as you can. You will put your heart out for your essays. But sometimes, high scores are just not for you, and that’s completely okay! That means you have so much room for improvement. You’ll get to learn more! Your scores will not define who you are as a student or as a person.
HAVE FUN
I know you’re a “gusto ko na umuwi” person but it sometimes it pays to just let loose. Go out with your friends. Smile. Laugh. Have fun. Let your emotions out. It will help ease your burdens.
Those are just the little things I can help you with, for now. Hang tight. Be tough, just like you’ve always been. But don’t forget to be soft too, you still need to be a normal person. Cry like a person. Hurt like a person. Get tired like a person. Be happy like a person. Remember that you’ll always got your back.
There are a lot of things that I wish I could have done in the beginning. That if I could bring back time, I would change the way I live so that I could perform better. But, there’s no time for regrets because what matters is that we learned from our mistakes. So, here are the five tips that I wish I could have given to my old self during the first day of our class as a college student.
Learn to socialize
Living a life away from my family and childhood friends was a difficult decision for me. I felt terrible and lonely because I have no one to run to about my problems, and I fear that I would not be able to make friends because of my shy personality. Due to this, I failed to maintain sincere relationships with other people, for I did not allow myself to be free and so, losing the opportunity to stay motivated and confident about myself and my capabilities.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
It is normal for us, freshmen, to feel uncomfortable and nervous on our first day of class. However, I do not have the confidence in me to approach my professors nor the upperclass students regarding inquiries concerning my course studies. Thus, I experienced difficulty adjusting in my new life since I have no clue about what my course is all about, especially on how to live a good college life.
Learn to manage your time
It’s a habit of mine to ignore my study schedule because I am a procrastinator. So, if I could have a fresh start, I would change this attitude and start regulating my everyday activities to use time efficiently and effectively.
Accept your bad days
Our first-time is not always pleasant, just like my first day as a college student. Therefore, it is better to accept how things went than stressing out about the things that already happen. With this, I would be able to have a positive outlook in life.
Take risks
Going out of my comfort zone scares me because I don’t know what awaits me once I go out there. But the thing is, taking a chance in life will help me grow more because of the experiences and learnings that will shape me to be something that I wished to be.
Hopefully, these tips will help you have a good start, be it as a student or an employee.
When I entered the college, I thought I was ready to face any difficulties that I will encounter. However, I didn’t realize that there’s so much more to know in order to be ready. And right now, I wish I have known these things right from the start so that I was able to achieve my goals earlier.
Set your priorities
When I started the semester, I should’ve set which things to prioritize and which things I should put my time in. I lost so much time doing unnecessary things that I forgot those who needed more time from me. I wasn’t able to achieve the goals that I set beforehand.
Avoid procrastinating and cramming
Laziness will always eat my time. I should’ve told myself to avoid spending time doing nothing and then cram requirement the last minutes before the deadline. If only I overcome procrastinating a lot earlier, I could’ve done much better outputs, however, I still let it consume me. Hopefully, for the next semester, I will be able to set things straight.
Stick with your budget
Part of adulting 101 is managing your finances wisely. When I started the semester, I thought it will be easy, however, it’s not. I should’ve stick with my budget and only spend my money on important things so that I will be able to save up money for the necessary tools needed in my major subjects. I hope in the next semester I would be able to have savings for emergency purposes.
Strive for excellence
When I first started the college life, I told myself that I will study hard so that I will be able to graduate with flying colors. However, along the way I lost my will and eventually settle to just passing my subjects. I should’ve continued striving to achieve my initial goal and not be discouraged. I hope in the next semester I would be able to get back in the track towards my goal.
Expect the unexpected
It may sound cliché, but this phrase is very appropriate for me. I should’ve known that what I hoped for is different for what is for me, that I should not be discouraged if things didn’t come out as what I expected it to be. I should have told myself to be ready for the consequences as it reflects the decisions that I made along the way.
As the semester’s ending, I realized that there are many things that I should’ve known earlier for me to be ready for anything that my course demands from me. However, at this moment, I realized that it’s also important for me to realize these things in order for me to learn from them. After all, experience is the best teacher.
After months of striving to gather information, to seek details of every event and be involved on various occasions, this semester has really gave me sleepless nights just to figure out how I could provide an article that would cater a specific audience. Looking back, it was really a long, difficult way to become this improved writer; a writer who does not just make articles for submission but seeking first for a purpose and understanding clearly his objectives to give the message properly to his readers.
If I were to go back to the first time I set foot in the College of Development Communication, here are the five tips that I want to give my old self to make him be more prepared as he take the challenges this semester has gave me.
Learn to socialize.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
I could remember how my old self was so shy just to interact with his classmates. He would not talk to anybody unless someone would reach out to him. This course required us to communicate with many people, including government officials. In order to do that, I had to brush off this bashfulness of mine just to gather the information that I need.
Read what you’ve just written.
Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash
Before, I have a habit of just passing the articles after writing it. I usually get bored whenever I read those. I learned in this course that in order to really provide a quality article, you must not just write but have a time to allot to re-read and search for errors on your article after making it. This is to ensure that the message you want to give your readers is clear to avoid any confusion.
Do not settle on your skills.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
My skills back then when it comes to writing mainly involved the techniques used in print media. Although these skills helped me a lot in some exercises, I am being bounded my own knowledge on this area whenever a new form of media is introduced to us. So, to my old self, learn to adopt the techniques used not just in print media. In that way, it would be much easier for you to submit the necessary requirements.
Always bring your smartphone.
Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash
A smartphone entails a lot of the tools that are needed in this course. From the camera, to voice recorder, and even taking important notes. So, in order to maximize details that can be gathered, always have your smartphone with you and of course, a powerbank in case your phone becomes low on battery.
Put your passion in DevCom.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
Before, what I have in my mind was just to complete this semester. I have no idea how hard it will become. But through this journey, what I realized is you have to put your passion in everything you will do. The rest will follow. Trust me, so much will change and will improve as long as you put your heart in it.
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
To my old self, I am glad that you have chosen to enter Development Communication. You will experience a lot, and not all of those will leave a smile on your face. Just trust the process, and remember these tips then you will end up to be an improved version of yourself.
Since there are a lot of school works, please lessen your procrastination. This does not help and it only makes you stressed. Working under pressure is really hard. If you have the time to finish your requirements, do it immediately so that your works will not pile up. This will test your time management skills.
When it comes to going to school and attending classes, you should always be prepared especially with your lessons. Try to read beforehand so that you will have an idea of what you will tackle in class. Also, focus (lessen your use of phone) and always listen to your professor during discussion because they always add important information that’s not in the PowerPoint slides.
Take it easy. Don’t pressure yourself just because others are doing better than you. Just do your best and if the result is not that great, it is okay. You can do better next time. Failure doesn’t define you. It’s part of your college life and this will serve as a lesson and motivation to continue doing better and with improvement.
Do not forget to relax and have fun. It’s really a must when you’re so stressed with your acads. You can take a break and chill for a bit. This can help you gain more energy so that you can function properly. Spending time with family and friends can also help a lot. Having your own support group can really be a big help especially when you lack motivation to do things. They can push you to strive harder.
BLOG 6050 