Whether you are a newly arrived freshman or a seasoned senior, sometimes college has some low points.
Maybe all of your friends seem to have more money than you do for socializing, while you're on a strict budget. Or you are set on being an English major, but your school is making you take at least two math classes. You thought going away to university would afford you more freedoms, but there still seem to be a lot of rules.
You're not alone with your frustrations. Here's a list of 7 of the most common college complaints - and what immediate steps you can take to resolve them:
Maybe all of your friends seem to have more money than you do for socializing, while you're on a strict budget. Or you are set on being an English major, but your school is making you take at least two math classes. You thought going away to university would afford you more freedoms, but there still seem to be a lot of rules.
You're not alone with your frustrations. Here's a list of 7 of the most common college complaints - and what immediate steps you can take to resolve them:
You're not going to like everything you have to take. [Source: http://www.unr.edu/Images/student-services/mynevada-help/academicadvisingreport110(0).jpg]
1. Required Courses
Why do I have to take two Religion courses - I'm not a Theology major!
That came up a lot at Notre Dame, along with the two required Philosophy courses. Please, please, please understand - if your school has any kind of religious affiliation, you will have to take these courses. Know it, accept it, move on.
Now what about the more common, and quite annoying, requirements of taking classes completely outside of the realm of your major and general academic interests?
Well, let's start by being honest with ourselves. Take me, for example. Give me any writing-based class and I'm happy. Tell me to take a math or science class, and I'm miserable. Why? Cause I'm just not very good at numbers. If you are peeved about a required course, ask yourself if you could stand to get extra help that might make the courseload a little more tolerable.
Finally, exercise some some good choices over the aspects you do have control over. Choose a professor who is funny, or a class time that lets you sleep in. And go out of your way to make friends, so at least you have someone to commiserate with after class.
That came up a lot at Notre Dame, along with the two required Philosophy courses. Please, please, please understand - if your school has any kind of religious affiliation, you will have to take these courses. Know it, accept it, move on.
Now what about the more common, and quite annoying, requirements of taking classes completely outside of the realm of your major and general academic interests?
Well, let's start by being honest with ourselves. Take me, for example. Give me any writing-based class and I'm happy. Tell me to take a math or science class, and I'm miserable. Why? Cause I'm just not very good at numbers. If you are peeved about a required course, ask yourself if you could stand to get extra help that might make the courseload a little more tolerable.
Finally, exercise some some good choices over the aspects you do have control over. Choose a professor who is funny, or a class time that lets you sleep in. And go out of your way to make friends, so at least you have someone to commiserate with after class.
Make the dining hall work for you, or find other food options. [Source: http://food.nd.edu/assets/30166/original/home_ndhsalad.jpg]
2. The Food
Dining hall food can get redundant. It's expensive to buy food in the student center or off-campus. You don't have a feasible way of getting to a grocery store, transporting the food back, or preparing meals in your room. You never thought you'd say this, but you're So. Sick. of pizza and froyo.
Some easy fixes for this one: if you can budget a certain amount for food, organize a weekly or monthly carpool to a grocery store and buy food you enjoy. If there isn't a way to cook food in your room, plenty of dorms have kitchens available. See if your friends are up for weekly dinners, where you each cook something for the meal.
Look for any openings with your favorite food place on or around campus - free or discounted menu items are usually a perk of being an employee.
Get creative in the dining hall. Don't just grab the slice of pizza if you are tired of it. Wait in line for the prepared food (like stir fry) or create your own master sandwich or salad combo. Try breakfast for dinner. Mix it up.
Some easy fixes for this one: if you can budget a certain amount for food, organize a weekly or monthly carpool to a grocery store and buy food you enjoy. If there isn't a way to cook food in your room, plenty of dorms have kitchens available. See if your friends are up for weekly dinners, where you each cook something for the meal.
Look for any openings with your favorite food place on or around campus - free or discounted menu items are usually a perk of being an employee.
Get creative in the dining hall. Don't just grab the slice of pizza if you are tired of it. Wait in line for the prepared food (like stir fry) or create your own master sandwich or salad combo. Try breakfast for dinner. Mix it up.
3. RoommateS
Did you choose your roommate? If so, you probably chose a friend, or at least an acquaintance. You thought it would be fun to live together, until you realized she came with a barnacle of a boyfriend who seems to be a permanent fixture of your futon and she never takes the trash out. You're starting to hate her.
That's ok. Go ahead and dislike her all you want. The goal is to co-exist functionally. Ask if she can see her boyfriend at his room sometimes, or tell her you need the room to be a quiet study space for 2 hours a night on weeknights.
Divide up the chores. If she still doesn't do them, do your share and ignore her mess, lest she think the Cleaning Fairy continues to keep the room in order.
And if you're living with someone randomly assigned to you - take heart. This ends after a year.
If your roommate truly makes you uncomfortable or makes you feel unsafe, take the issue to your R.A. or the Housing Office. Transfers can be arranged in appropriate cases.
That's ok. Go ahead and dislike her all you want. The goal is to co-exist functionally. Ask if she can see her boyfriend at his room sometimes, or tell her you need the room to be a quiet study space for 2 hours a night on weeknights.
Divide up the chores. If she still doesn't do them, do your share and ignore her mess, lest she think the Cleaning Fairy continues to keep the room in order.
And if you're living with someone randomly assigned to you - take heart. This ends after a year.
If your roommate truly makes you uncomfortable or makes you feel unsafe, take the issue to your R.A. or the Housing Office. Transfers can be arranged in appropriate cases.
4. Feeling Isolated
Maybe your campus is in the middle of nowhere, or it's so huge you feel completely swallowed up by the student body. Or you haven't found a good group of friends yet. Or you feel like the only [insert some kind of defining religious/ethnic/professional/personal background identity here] on campus.
Feeling isolated due to a perceived lack of diversity on campus or not finding people with compatible interests and personalities is a matter of not meeting the right people. Find a club or organization (or start your own) to meet like-minded friends, or get a job on or around campus to broaden your social network.
By finding a solid group of friends to ground yourself at school, the campus's size and / or remote location won't seem so overwhelming.
Feeling isolated due to a perceived lack of diversity on campus or not finding people with compatible interests and personalities is a matter of not meeting the right people. Find a club or organization (or start your own) to meet like-minded friends, or get a job on or around campus to broaden your social network.
By finding a solid group of friends to ground yourself at school, the campus's size and / or remote location won't seem so overwhelming.
5. Nothing To Do For Fun
This can be true, but first, what are you doing now for fun? Are you giving up before you even try, or, perhaps worse, adopting someone else's version of fun that doesn't actually resonate with you?
If you don't like bars, stop spending your nights there and organize a movie night or a bowling outing with your friends. If you are tired of sitting in your room in the evenings, join an intramural sports team, volunteer organization, or club.
Suggest activities for your friends if they seem unmotivated to get out. Organize a day trip to a local site on the weekend if you're feeling stifled on campus.
Get out of your room. There is, actually, plenty to do.
If you don't like bars, stop spending your nights there and organize a movie night or a bowling outing with your friends. If you are tired of sitting in your room in the evenings, join an intramural sports team, volunteer organization, or club.
Suggest activities for your friends if they seem unmotivated to get out. Organize a day trip to a local site on the weekend if you're feeling stifled on campus.
Get out of your room. There is, actually, plenty to do.
Check out your on-campus job options if you're bored, want to meet new people, and are strapped for cash. [Source: http://www.umt.edu/career/CareerFairs/]
6. Too Flippin' Expensive
Make an appointment with the Financial Aid office if you are struggling with tuition payments, and work your connections on campus to find a job if you need a regular income. Ask your professors if they hire research assistants or know of scholarships you are a good candidate for.
If your friends like to do expensive activities, suggest alternatives so that you can still go out together but nobody is asking you to put $60 towards one meal at the trendy new sushi bar.
And if they are really your friends, you can always be honest with them about your budgetary restrictions. I had to turn down some invitations while I was in school, and earned a little extra cash for pocket money by working one (sometimes two) extra jobs a semester.
If your friends like to do expensive activities, suggest alternatives so that you can still go out together but nobody is asking you to put $60 towards one meal at the trendy new sushi bar.
And if they are really your friends, you can always be honest with them about your budgetary restrictions. I had to turn down some invitations while I was in school, and earned a little extra cash for pocket money by working one (sometimes two) extra jobs a semester.
7. Difficult Classes And Professors
Is it too hard? Or is just this one class, this one professor who is making your life miserable right now? Careful to see the forest through the trees. Maybe it isn't your university that is too hard - more likely, it's this semester's workload.
So what do you do? Start finding help and instead of silently drowning in bad grades. Talk with your TA's and professors, make appointments with the campus tutoring center, hire a private tutor or enlist a friend's assistance, and keep doing the work. Not understanding an assignment is not a valid excuse for not doing the work.
Work with an academic advisor to discuss how to lighten your workload next semester by spreading out your more challenging classes evenly over your time remaining there, or see if there are alternative classes or major options that might be a better fit for your interests and talents.
So what do you do? Start finding help and instead of silently drowning in bad grades. Talk with your TA's and professors, make appointments with the campus tutoring center, hire a private tutor or enlist a friend's assistance, and keep doing the work. Not understanding an assignment is not a valid excuse for not doing the work.
Work with an academic advisor to discuss how to lighten your workload next semester by spreading out your more challenging classes evenly over your time remaining there, or see if there are alternative classes or major options that might be a better fit for your interests and talents.
There you go : 7 complaints about college that are completely resolvable (or at least mitigated) by a little bit of effort on your part. Accept that there will be some frustrations that can't be completely fixed, but you do have some control over the variables of these inescapable situations. Figure out what you can change for the better, while waiting out the things that that you can't.
