1. No accidents (i.e. children). That means no unprotected sex. You don’t want to be a parent. Your parents don’t want to be grandparents, just yet. And your friend’s parents don’t want to be grandparents either. That was certainly a problem I didn't have as a Freshman.
2. No means no — always.
3. Don’t go places alone. I went everywhere alone. Men used to try to pick me up in Times Square but that didn't stop me from wondering around hither and thither.
4. Don’t forget the reason why you’re at college — to get an education. Strive to make Dean’s list. You won’t regret it. But also feel free to explore subjects and do things that might interest you. I think I did make the Dean's list as a Freshman. It was Sophmore year I started to goof off.
5. Have fun but not too much fun. Don’t ever wake up with Sharpie pictures or letters on your face or body. That means you got drunk and passed out first and your friends punked you. I was basicly a good boy.
6. Don’t smoke pot. It will suck all your drive and ambition out of you. Same with taking Adderall recreationally. They didn't have adderall then but I did indulge in the other.
7. Free time is not free time. Go to the library and study in between classes, and after dinner. Right.
8. Learn how to say no to invitations. You won’t ruin your college experience if you don’t go to parties Sunday through Wednesday. There’s a party every night somewhere. True, if you call sitting in a dorm room with guys and smoking pot a party.
9. Develop a relationship with your professors. Visit them during office hours, before midterms. Get to know them on a first-name basis — all of them, including the TAs Right
10. Get plenty of exercise and sleep. Maybe even join intramural teams and/or a club team. I slept well, and did walk around a lot.
11. Try to establish a routine. The best thing about college is there is no routine. Class attendance was voluntary in those heady days.
12. Study in the library. The dorm can be too noisy at times. That is true.
13. Study and hang out with people who share the same goals as you. Don’t be afraid to develop a passion for what you are learning. Passion? My college friends were all cynical about education.
14. Listen to NPR on TuneIn in the morning or whenever. They didn't have NPR back then. I listened to WBAI but the signal was weak at school.
15. Read the local and school newspapers. Right.
16. Write for the school newspaper. I did that as a Freshman, Sophomore year I discovered radio.
17. Don’t spend your college years binge-watching Netflix or Hulu or HBO Go. That’s not necessarily what your parents are paying for. You could do that at home — for a lot less money. We didn't have tv in the dorms, Internet or cell phones at school in my day. We had stereos for entertainment.
18. Read and do the school’s bucket list. I think I went into the telescope once.
19. Don’t forget to speak up in class. Don’t be a wallflower. Ask questions and answer questions. I was brave in class.
20. Stay off your cellphone in class. You don’t have to Snapchat each and every activity during the day, especially when you’re in class. Not available in my day.
21. Never leave your drink unattended and don’t drink mysterious alcoholic concoctions. If possible drink beer from a bottle or tap that you watch being poured. I was never that paranoid. Sure, I'll pop a psilocybin!
22. Go home on the weekends with kids who live locally. I had to take the bus to New York than take a Jersey bus.
23. Check the school’s events calendar daily. Don’t be afraid to go to a museum or concert or sports event (women’s ice hockey comes to mind) you might not typically go to. I saw Chick Corea and Malvina Reynolds as a Freshman.
24. Some of the students you meet freshman year are likely to become lifelong friends. You may not realize what that means today, but someday you will. God knows what happened to my Freshman friends.
25. When in doubt about this or that decision or action, ask what your future self would make of your decision or action. Would your future self have regret or be proud? Avoid regrets and trips to the emergency room, police station and court. Nothing like a visit to the emergency room
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