<p>From viewing discussions online and from previous experiences in College(4.5 years now; not that I am proud of this) it seems that many people are mistaken about what the point of College really is:</p>
<p>(Note: I understand that in this post I am COMPLETELY generalizing. I am just simplifying my own writing)</p>
<p>Mostly, from what I have experienced(And read)</p>
<p>If you are an extrovert, you will most likely enjoy College.
If you are an introvert, you might not enjoy College.</p>
<p>I can still remember being eighteen and first moving into the dormitories. A lot of students wanted to try new things(Which stems off of the movies shown on Television of the College lifestyle, MTV, the environment, among other various factors; at least that is what I have observed) so that when the extrovert first enters College they want to have fun/go wild(I know that I am generalizing). As it is painfully obvious to me that as writing this(I am not an extrovert) this is subject to my own personal bias- Which is only limited to what I have observed in College. In other words, these people will be eager to go to parties/clubs/social events in order to meet a lot of people. Which is a good thing.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the introvert will not necessarily jump into all of these activities. (Once again- This is subjective to my own personal bias). When I first entered College I know that I didn't want to party/club and such. In fact, when I went to my first party as a Freshman I left after about around fifteen minutes. It just wasn't interesting to me. Instead I formed a rather harmful addiction(To an online video game) which luckily didn't destroy my GPA since my Freshman classes were much easier than my Junior/Senior level courses.</p>
<p>So the point that I am making that is if you an an introvert then you could benefit from following these guidelines:</p>
<p>A. Unless you have no other alternative available: Don't commute from home and go to College if you are an introvert. Chances are you will go to class, leave and go to your car, and then go home. That is exactly the way it was in high school. The most essential part about College is getting out of your comfort zone- And that just won't happen if you live at home and probably won't have any incentive to go out every night. You will probably just waste a lot of time watching movies, on the internet, paying computer games/console games, etc. </p>
<p>B. You really shouldn't be trying to get a 4.0 GPA unless you have a definitively plan after College. You want to go to medical school? top law school? investment banking? Then OK- Shoot for the highest GPA you can possibly get in Undergraduate study. If not, then the higher your GPA is the greater the declining marginal returns. And if you think that the GPA is everything and that you are smarter than everyone else because you have a higher GPA then just wait until you graduate and get out into the real world: When(Believe or not) no one really cares if you graduated with a 3.9 and honors. Employers are much more likely to hire a well-rounded student. Why? Because they have a personality.</p>
<p>If you want to get into a top-ranked Grad school/Medical school/Law school/etc. and are 100% headset on continuing on after College and doing this then you can scratch this; as getting all the A's will be beneficial to you.</p>
<p>I'd argue that spending all your time getting those A's kills creative/independent thought(As I found out) but that is a far different topic.</p>
<p>C. Let's face it: Most jobs in the real world are really boring. If you think College is boring, then wait until you graduate and get into the routine of a 8:00-5:00pm job Monday through Friday in which you repeat the same thing over and over again to pay off student loans. I've seen this first hand as an intern for around 7->8 months.</p>
<p>It is true: If you work extremely hard in College and/or have connections then you can go above and bypass this "fate" but don't think too highly of yourself or your College or your grades since it can happen to anybody.</p>
<p>Given what I know now, maybe I would have treated College a little differently as a Freshman. But it almost seems like I am too grown up now to ever go back......well you will all eventually understand.</p>
<p>D. People stress over exam grades and all of these other things but the most difficult part of College is not(and will never be) the coursework.</p>
<p>In high school, you are placed inside a community of people which everyone knows and many of which have been in school together for a period of four or more years. </p>
<p>In College you leave this nest/family and are surrounded by an entirely different community. All of the sudden all of your peers didn't grow up in the same community in which you prospered, didn't have the same ideas/religion which you remember, and didn't participate in the same activities in their youth.</p>
<p>All of the sudden you will be faced with loneliness, adjusting, and all this other stuff(I cannot express this very well in words). Although take note that dealing with this- And more importantly overcoming this, will be harder than any of your classwork. </p>
<p>Before you could run home to mom and dad or your best friend's house whenever life got tough. Now there is no one to run to.</p>
<p>For some the adjustment period is painful, and for some it is easy. Eventually one day you will get over it.</p>
<p>E. Don't spend the whole day locked inside your dorm room/library/bedroom in your parents house. There is plenty of able time when you are older to live like a hermit and since College gives you great opportunities to go out and socialize you should definitely take advantage of this. </p>
<p>I speak from personal experience that this is not the type of lifestyle that you want to live. Not only is it continually boring, but it is also a waste of all the other opportunities that you could have taken advantage of.</p>
<p>After you end College do you really want to look back and only remember spending 90% of your free time in a room by yourself on the computer or reading books all day? Most people would say no.</p>
<p>The exception would be if you are a genius(Although these are very rare) and you are very unlikely to be one of these. If you are though- Feel free to hermit in your room all day.</p>
<p>F. Another idea is to learn a lot about which College to attend before you register.</p>
<p>Do most of the other students commute? Are most of the other students introverts who treat College like a job as oppose to a growing experience?</p>
<p>Avoid the commuter school and try to befriend other introverts. Chances are they are having the same exact problem that you have been having.</p>
<p>I do note that I am not trying to recommend that you don't take the coursework seriously. You should always try to maintain above a 3.0 Grade Point Average. But if grades are the only thing you care about then you are completely missing the point of College.</p>
<p>So if you are miserable/depressed and do not like College then it is mostly likely your own fault.</p>
<p>You are given all the opportunity to take advantage of all the different resources and you don't since you are afraid of getting out of your comfort zone.</p>
<p>Stop sitting in front of the Television/Computer on Friday and Saturday night.
Stop going to the library immediately after class and eating lunch by yourself every day.
Stop running to your car or dorm room once class ends.
Stop paying attention to the teacher in class and pretend like the other students don't exist.</p>
<p>Instead, get out of your comfort zone and starting living your life.</p>
<p>If you don't; you will look back and think to yourself: Why did I take everything too seriously?</p>