Advice for Senior Me

Oh the first year married. I originally didn't think I'd have so much school left when I got married. And another part of me, when I was much younger, though I'd just drop out when I got married. I'm so grateful I didn't. My degree is a matter of pride to me, it's something very hard that I accomplished. Though my husband and family have been incredible supports, and I definitely would not have been able to complete school without their emotional and financial support, ultimately it was me who got up every morning and got to school and did the work. Further more, this schooling has helped me feel fulfilled in a way that only my schooling can. I'm doing what I love to do and I wouldn't have been able to do it any other way.

The first year of marriage and school was pretty great. My husband really helped me out. But I still do have advice for that me, a year ago.

-I've said this so many times but really, you need to figure out what classes you have left. That PDF that has the list of all of your classes needed to graduate should be your best friend. It's not something to be looked at once a semester. Look at it once a WEEK. Memorize it. It will save you so much stress. Because eventually you're gonna realize that you have way more classes to do than you think, and you will NOT love taking 20 credits in the summer.

-Take charge on group assignments. Don't wait for others to take charge. Assess what needs to be done, then start delegating. There are classmates in every single class in every single university who are just waiting for people to tell them what they need to do, and you won't get anything done until you tell them what they need to do. And be specific. Otherwise you'll end up writing a 15 page paper before 11pm all by yourself because those who did their part did not do it correctly in the slightest, and then there's the other half of the group who didn't do their part at all. Don't be afraid to dish out really honest reports on them to the professor. Your classmates are going to become teachers too and we've got enough half-hearted teachers already.

-Procrastination... I know Netflixing with Joe is fun, and lazy weekends with Joe are fun, but losing sleep and sanity over assignments that should have been started weeks ago is not fun. Senior year is an easy year to get lazy, but senior year of college is not senior year of high school. You can't afford to get lazy.

-Do not sacrifice your physical, mental, and emotional health for work and school. There's a limit there. Know it. You don't need to drop out of school or quit work but you need to balance a bit better. Make a list of what's important and what is excessive and let the excess slide.

-You did this one GREAT so it's not advice for you, but for the rest of the senior students population out there. You're going to have advisers for your department and finances and everything you can imagine. These people work with thousands of students and although they likely hate to admit it, it's easy for the student emailing them to get lost in the millions. You, as a student, need to make calls and demands. If you do not ASK for financial aid, you won't get it. If you do not put your foot down and tell your adviser that you need to get into such a class and you are willing to do all you need to do to get into that class, but you need help on their side too, then they probably won't help you. And you won't get into the class. And you will not graduate when you want to. Those advisers are probably gonna be your best friends come graduation and you'll give them a hug before taking your diploma and shaking their hand, but before then, they are there to provide a service to you and treating them daintily using words like "Maybe" and "Hey if it'd be ok could you..." and "I would like it if... but it's ok if you can't...." will get you pushed under the bus of students who are being assertive.

Alright. Now I' in my last year. I don't have any advice for me so far because I'm three days into the school year. I've got a solid feeling that it's gonna be a heck of a ride, though.