Going to college marks a significant change in your life. Students enter a new realm of academic studies with high expectations and standards to meet. College demands a lot from its students regarding studies and additional life skills.
To be a well-rounded student at college, you need to have a few critical tricks up your sleeve. We have compiled a list of the five essential life skills college students should possess and explained why we deem them necessary below.
Life Skills for College Students
Basic programming/IT skills
In the context of COVID, computers have become an important skill to master for the regular functioning of society. Courses have become web-enhanced or are entirely online in some cases. Students today must have basic computer skills to execute commands in computer applications.
While using communication applications like Zoom comes easy to students these days, there are other things they should learn to put their best foot forward at college.
Computer skills can be divided into two categories: hardware and software. Hardware skills are those that everyone has these days - knowing how to operate a computer physically. However, they can be more complex, like connecting machines to networks or changing parts reserved for professionals.
Software skills help you efficiently use computer programs and applications. In some cases, these can be pre-requisites for employment or even majors. Everyone should be well-versed in several general computer skills to get through college smoothly.
First, students should know how to use different applications, like Canva or Microsoft PowerPoint, to create stellar presentations at college. Presentations are often a significant component in courses, and being adept at making them is a mark in your favor.
Second, students should also aim to master Microsoft Excel and understand how they can use it to their advantage—for example, they should learn how to utilize conditional formatting to track data with colors or use autofill to save time. They can also use it for data visualization and graphs and charts, which is helpful for dissertations and thesis.
Third, students should understand email communication. College requires students to be in contact with several seniors like their instructors, their teaching assistants, the head of the department, and other professors. Students should understand how to use email effectively and the general etiquette around emailing an instructor.
This includes things like the appropriate time to send an email - if you are typing an email late at night, you schedule it to be sent during the workday - and knowing how to respectfully address people who are senior to you. A general rule of thumb with professional/school emails is to send one after 9 am and before 9 pm.
It can also be helpful to have a basic understanding of programming skills, which can help students write commands and instruct computer applications and programs. Programming skills are also beneficial because they teach students to troubleshoot, which you need to do quite often throughout life.
Learn multiple languages
Amongst other skills to learn before going to college is learning multiple languages. This may seem unnecessary for some students but learning various languages has definite cognitive and social benefits for students. Knowing how to speak another language increases your chances of connecting with another individual. It immediately creates a sense of familiarity and establishes common ground between two people.
People who speak more than one language have improved memory, excellent critical thinking skills, and an ability to think quickly on their feet to solve problems. They also have enhanced concentration and an ability to multitask. These are all traits that are extremely handy in college.
Notably, learning a new language improves your analytical skills as well. People who know more than one language can process information rationally and logically. For example, people who make decisions in a foreign language make logical and wiser decisions based on analytical reasoning rather than emotion.
Multilingualism also increases creativity. Since you learn how to communicate well using new words, you use your brain analogously, similar to when you are thinking creatively. For example, learning a new language allows you to explore new ways of expressing feelings and ideas. A study, by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, on the effects of multilingualism on creativity found that bilinguals were more creative than monolinguals.
Lastly, knowing how to speak another language sets you apart from your monolingual peers. It allows you to advance your career by giving you a competitive edge. Being multilingual is very much in demand. Between 2010 and 2015, the number of jobs in the U.S that listed this as a requirement doubled.
Develop a Kitchen Income (personal income source)
It is also very beneficial to have a job that keeps you busy when out of your classes. Having a personal source of income allows you to understand how to manage your finances which is an important life skill to have.
A personal source of income forces you to manage your own money, so you become much more careful about how much you spend and where. Creating a budget is key to managing your money successfully. Writing down your incomes, expenses, and estimates in a designated notebook is always handy. You will learn which expenses to prioritize and which to defer.
Furthermore, you will also learn how to save if you earn your own money. You learn the value of money and understand the wisdom of saving once you start earning. In addition, since you cannot expend the same energy on working and studying as you have to prioritize the latter, you will have to save at one point or another.
Money issues at college are a common problem but understanding your finances allows you to set financial goals for the future, which is a crucial life skill. A last piece of advice is to avoid credit card debt which can be sneaky and pile up without you noticing. It is best to pay off your credit as soon as you can.
In addition, having a job also allows you to understand the work environment and what the general expectations are before you step into the real world. Having a little knowledge of how the professional world works is better than being blindsided.
Learn public speaking
Do you break out in a panic when you think about speaking up in front of a class? You need to overcome that. Public speaking is an essential life skill for college students.
Many courses at college have presentation components that require each member of the group to speak before a class. And if you want to write a thesis, you will be required to defend it. But it is not only essential to learn how to speak in public for academics; it is also a crucial life skill.
Public speaking improves communication skills, allowing you to become a confident speaker. It also tests your knowledge as you may be required to answer additional questions about your topic from the audience. Additionally, it makes you a better communicator because presentations need ideas to be shared clearly and concisely.
Furthermore, public speaking is a great self-esteem booster. Being in college as an awkward teenager entering adult life can be a confusing time. By being able to communicate effectively, you can increase your self-confidence. It also increases the likelihood of you participating in class when needed and engaging in a healthy back and forth with your peers, which is crucial in college.
Planning and discipline
Planning and discipline can also be defined as time management and goal setting. Colleges don't have the same rigid schedules as schools. You will be expected to solely pick up your slack and read and study independently from classes to prepare for them.
It may seem like you have a lot of free time, but the gaps between classes are meant to be filled with self-study and extra-curricular activities instead of simply socializing. Adding a job on top means that you need to control how much and where you spend your time to ensure you are getting the most out of it.
It is vital to prioritize your responsibilities and balance your commitments without favoring one over the other. Furthermore, it can be helpful to set goals for your day or your week to supplement your time management. If you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, that can act as a road map for managing your activities and how much time to dedicate to each activity.
You must keep in mind that your goals must be attainable and not too easy. Amidst it all, it is also crucial to make time for yourself and your mental health.
Want to know more? Hop on a call with us to explore how to learn and utilize these skills in the future.