Your Greatest Asset in College
Sunday, March 22, 2009 by Mike Bertolino 
Photo Courtesy: Flickr User bsliFriendliness helps in life outside of college, but it definitely has a special place inside of it. Whether you start your first semester, or coming back for a new semester; being friendly will help you in more ways than one.
It's a lot easier to tell someone who you are friends with to turn the music down, at three in the morning, when you have a test at 8 a.m. the next day, rather than someone whom you have a mutual hatred with. Now, you can't be friends with everyone but you can at least try. Any conflict can be handled much easier this way.
Outside of the dorms, friendliness can lead to better grades. If you can start making friends in you major then, it will be easier to create study groups as well as work on group projects because you'll probably be seeing the same faces again depending on the size of your school. Now, the first day of classes is definitely awks to the max but here are some tips for you to bridge starting relationships with classmates:
1. Sit next to someone you don't know... and talk to them.
It's kind of a no-brainer but if you get to class first chances are you'll have at least one desk or table between the next person, providing you're late. If you are outgoing like this then you could ask if they want to study with you. When you skip a class because it was your 21st birthday, it'll help if you have friends in your class to get notes from.
2. Take major classes together.
The more you study with one person, the more they learn how you learn. If you take numerous classes with them then you can depend on them more and vice versa. The long hours you spend in the library might be fun because you'd be doing it with someone you enjoy spending time with.
3. Be Dependable.
People don't like it when they're studying with someone and they don't bring anything to the table. Having people to depend on when it comes to studying also means they depend on you. Put in the same amount of work as you would have if you'd been studying by yourself.
Finally, be friendly to the people who work at the University. Chances are you'll see the same people working at the food counters, lunch trucks and coffee shops for the duration of your time there. If you're friendly to them then they'll definitely reciprocate. This goes for custodial staff as well. They do an awesome job and are usually pretty cool once you get to know them.
How has being friendly helped your college experience? Comment below or email me at mike@hackcollege.com
Reader Comments (5)
Sit next to someone, and talk to them is such a key to success!
So true but can be difficult depending on the person you are, the school/students, and the situation. Good advice.
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I second this one Mike. Last semester, for the entire semester, I sat by the same group of people for my linguistics class. It paid off in the end because we all studied together for the final. For this exam, the teacher let us cram notes onto both sides of an 8 x 11 sheet of paper. I had a crazy amount of other stuff to do and had virtually no time/energy left to spend on this exam. Lo and behold, the day before the test, one of the kids sent me his typed-up completed review sheet. This saved my life and literally 10-20 hours of studying. All I had to do was to condense it to fit on both sides of a single sheet of paper, print it out, and ace that sucker of a test!!!