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Jessica Leigh Lebos

When Jessica Leigh graduated with a degree in creative writing, she figured she'd be slinging lattes for the rest of her life, so she shaved her head, moved into a VW bus and set off for Alaska. Good thing the van broke down just north of San Francisco, because she just hates cold weather. Her baris...

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Got 25 Words of Wisdom?

I choose not to remember much about my freshman year of college. All I know is I ate bagels for every meal (hello, Freshman 25!) and wore out my Steve Miller Band’s Greatest Hits cassette. Occasionally, vague flashes of sleeping through a chemistry midterm or vomiting in the cactus planter outside the dorm will enter my psyche and I immediately swat it away. Them was some dark, dark days, friends.

But if I can save just one other poor child from those pits of despair and cheap beer, I am willing to mine that depressing territory for the greater good. Georgia Southern University Public Relations professor Barbara Nixon is collecting sage advice for her students and wants all of our help:

Thinking back to your college experience, what do you wish you would have known about your freshman year? What did you do just right? What do you wish you could get a “do-over” on? Topics could include:

Studying (or lack thereof)
Alcohol consumption (or lack thereof)
Reading textbooks
Reading syllabi
Time management
Involvement in campus activities
Making friends
Using library resources for research
Maintaining a personal budget

To make it even more fun, entries must be EXACTLY 25 words. (We editors looooove this kind of exercise!)

Here are two efforts that I hope someone just freed from her/his parents’ clutches might find valuable:

Southern Comfort mixed with Dr. Pepper is not your friend; neither is the roommate who borrows and doesn’t return money, lingerie and Biology 101 notes. 

AND:

Credit card applications outside the Student Union: A minute to fill out, a decade to pay off; better to eat ramen and shop at Goodwill.

Submit yours in the comments section or post it on your own blog, but be sure to link back here and to Barbara’s site!