Make the most of your time in college

Surviving college is easy.

The tricky part is making the most of your college experience. After toiling in the fields of higher education for the past five years, perhaps I can offer some advice to make your college days less of a burden and more of a boon.

• Change your major several times.

  I don't know anyone who hasn't switched his or her major at least once. I changed mine three times. My advice: Change it about 10 times.

  By looking into different programs and meeting the people in those areas, you will find a discipline you're passionate about -- or  you may even realize this school has nothing to offer you. Either way, you'll find what  you want. And if your first choice was right, you'll switch back.

• Take the toughest teachers.

  Usually, the tougher the teacher, the more you'll learn. Take a teacher who is strict yet fair, one who goes beyond the book that someone else wrote.

  But giving more work does not make a teacher better. A good teacher provides a challenge, loves his subject and will do whatever it takes to implant his knowledge into the mind of another (humor is an effective technique). So if a teacher refuses to help you and says, "That was covered in the book (or lecture)," he's not a teacher -- he's just some guy looking for a paycheck. So steer clear of those types.

Matthew L. Green

Tough or not, these teachers are not worth taking -- especially if emotional distress in that one class is hurting your grades in others.

• Make some friends.

  Because Cal State Long Beach is a commuter school, it's easy to just attend class without making any real friends. There's no need to -- you already have a set of friends outside of school.

  Talking to someone in class doesn't count. Go to a bar or ballgame with them. Join a softball team or religious cult together.

Well, if you have too many friends already, do it strictly for professional reasons: to make contacts. A classmate who pukes in your back seat last week may work at NBC next year, and he may hook you up with a great job after graduation.

• Don't regret anything.

  No matter what vile act you do at a party, how many drugs you do next week or what major test you fail -- don't let it bring you down. College is all about learning -- in and out of the classroom.

  When you make a mistake, think about what went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again. Screwing up can be fun, and benefiting from it makes it all worthwhile.

Matthew L. Green is a CSULB graduate and former editor in chief of the Daily Forty-Niner.

• Freshman class largest in CSULB history
• La Raza receives A.S.I funding
• Garcia to enhance "Beach Pride" on campus
• Numbers you may have missed
• New juice bar quenches healthy thirst at CSULB
• Financial aid stress has cure
• What you might have missed
• CSULB campus map
  

• Boycott parking
• Welcome back to The Beach
• Commute: creativity is the key
• Childfree by choice
• Make the most of your time in college
  

• Boy bands dominate this week's new releases
• Fall 2000 Diversions Calendar
• Expectations high for the Carpenter Center
• Off-campus restaurants, bars and clubs

• An all American summer for Dirtbags' shortstop
• Set and ready for competition