From The Editor: If I Knew Then What I Know Now…

Looking back on my time in college, there are a lot of things I wish people would have told me. Things that would have really impacted my life both then and in the future.

By Lauren

- I wish I would have known that all the guys I had crushes on would get fat and bald in five years.
- I wish I knew how scary and overwhelming my first year out of college would be.
- I really wish someone would have told me how bad I looked in shirts that showed my belly.

Had I known these things, who knows how my life would have turned out? I know I wouldn’t have spent so much time pining over dumb boys, crying myself to sleep for a year, or hiding my Senior Year photo album (because we had real, tangible photo albums back in 2005) under a pile of old clothes right now.

And that is why I would like to share a few things with you. I am your future (a fabulous, successful, happy, sexy, awesome, etc. girl) and I know what is to come. Allow me to guide you in your choices – based on all I have seen in my 5 years (gasp!) since graduating – to ensure you make the right choices and don’t end up with the same regrets I have.

1. Go Abroad! With only 4 short years on campus I didn’t want to miss out on a full semester by going abroad, so I didn’t join three of my roommates in Australia for 6 months. I ended up having a great time on campus that semester, but after hearing about my friends’ adventures and experiences, I realized what a mistake I’d made. Especially now that I’m in the real world and the opportunity to spend 6 months in another country is no longer available. Studying abroad – even if just for a summer – is truly a once in a lifetime experience and if you have the opportunity and the means, DO IT. I didn’t and that is the biggest regret in my life.

2. Travel! I know this seems absurd – especially considering the economy right now – but everyone should take a backpacking trip through Europe/South America/Southeast Asia/anywhere! at some point during college or right after graduation. Besides not going abroad, this is the biggest mistake I made in my life. I chose spending the summer with my BF over seeing Europe with my BFFs and now I don’t have 3-6 weeks (or any friends who have 3-6 weeks) to take a trip like that. The real world puts a lot of constraints on you (money, time, responsibility); college is the only time you’ll have the time and the crew to do something like that. It is definitely money worth spending.

3. Start Saving Money. Ironic that this comes right after I urge you to blow your money on a trip to Europe, but stay with me. Not only will you need money to take a trip abroad (duh), but real life gets real expensive, real fast. I blew threw my entire savings (which was like $1,000) in my first 2 weeks in NYC. And that was scary. If I had only known how quickly that money would be gone when I was a senior, I probably would have cut back on the Starbucks/Jimmy John’s runs and saved a whole lot more.

4. Take the GRE/GMAT. Senior year is not the time you really want to be bogged down and studying for some dumb test, but DO IT. Even if you have zero plans to go to grad school now, you never know if you’ll want to (or need to) go in the future. Trust me on this one, it’s a lot less painful to study for that test now than to find the time between work and real life later.

5. Live It Up. School should always be your number one priority, but make sure to get out there and enjoy that college lifestyle to its fullest. Don’t let drama or BS ruin your time ; get out there and have fun. Yes, the real world can be a good time too (I am extremely happy!), but it will never be like college again.