Friends you need in campus
College life is tough and you need friends you can trust to make it smoother and more bearable. However, sometimes the friends we choose end up dragging us down instead of leading us in the right direction. You want to stay on the right track academically, attend your classes as you are supposed to, have time to study for your exams and most importantly, have enough time to complete your assignments. You really don’t want friends who will make you feel depleted after spending time with them. If someone is not adding any value to your academic life, then you are better off without them. Here are four types of friends you should keep in college.
1. Someone who engages with social activities
As a student, it is very easy to get pinned down by school projects, assignments, and exams. Keeping a friend who loves having a great time or going out is a good thing because they will remind you of the importance of having a social life. However, this doesn’t mean that you should go partying all the time – you have to balance your studies with social engagement. Research has shown that students who maintaina good balance between their class work and social life tend to perform better academically that those who spend their entire time buried in books.
Having friends who like to go out can help relieve your stress and at the same time enable you to build a professional network. But do not get it twisted. Your friend must also be the kind that knows how to manage their time effectively. They should be able to differentiate between parting time and school time. You don’t have to spend the whole day engaging in fun activities or partying. Sure having a breather will get your mind refreshed but also classes and assignments are very demanding and need to be attended to. Your partying friend must not be there for you during fun times only. They should also encourage you to attend your classes religiously and educational events once in a while so that you can grow your knowledge on the classes you are taking. For example, if you are studying music, attending music festivals and auditions may be a better idea to break the class monotony than partying all night. But we are not overruling the idea of being a party animal; what we are simply saying is that doing fun activities that are relatedto what you are studying will be much better for your academic growth. If your party friend has similar interests as you, even better because you too will help each other to grow.
2. Mum friend
This one will act like a mum (literally). While having someone who pushes you around seems annoying, sometimes such people are what we need to be successful in life. Now, if you just joined college and have no idea about how things run, you need someone to hold your hand and this is where school mums come in. Sometimes, no matter how self-reliant and prepared you are to join campus, you find yourself in sticky situations. A school mum will ensure that during tee difficult moments, your academic and personal needs are met. The mum friend will share her lunch with you are dying of starvation or don’t have any money, show you the study rooms and help you to get a roommate.
However, for this relationship to be beneficial, you also have to return the favor. Do not run away when she needs help from you. Be a good friend when she is also facing a difficult situation so that your bond can grow stronger. This will lead to a longer lasting relationship and you will both feel comfortable and safe when you have each other. A good mum friend will show you the right direction to follow n order to achieve you academic goals.
3. Study buddy
Even when you are torn between classes, assignments, and extra-curricular activities, there should always be someone who reminds you about why you joined college or took that specific course in the first place. As a student, many are the times you feel like not attending classes because you are probably overwhelmed with assignments and school projects. We have heard of students who changed their major or even dropped the course because they just couldn’t keep up with all the work demanded from them and attending classes as well as taking part in school events. If only these students had a good study friend who would guide and steer them away from giving up, they could easily achieve both their academic and career goals.
Keeping a study buddy is important, as they are able to know when your course is stressing you and offer valuable insight on how to move forward. Even when you are stuck on your assignment, they can help you find a solution by recommending a person who can help or an online academic help expert. There are many students who have come to us for college homework help and a big fraction of these were referred to our company by their friends and study buddies. By showing you where you can get quality help and studying with you, a study buddy keeps you motivated toward working hard and meeting your objectives. This individual also gets you back on track when you spend too much time handing out with your partying friend or attending college events. They keep you from getting distracted and remind you of things that you have forgotten to prioritize like self-study, exam revision, and assignments completion.
Attending school events will only be a good idea of you are doing your projects and submitting tem on time, studying for your exam when you need to, and attending all your classes. A study friend will remind you to do these and stay focused. But this also has to go both ways. If you realize that your buddy is often getting distracted from doing things that really matter in school, you should get them backon track encourage them to keep forging forward. Study together so that they can feel motivated to stay focused. Doing this will not only help the both of you look out for each other but also help maintain a clear picture of whatneeds to be done to score great in your exams and projects.
4. Personal advisor
Apart from a mum friend, party animal, and study buddy, you also need someone to give you some advice on what you should and should not do to succeed and survive in college. If you just enrolled, you may be having a hard time managing your time and budget as well as maintaining healthy friendly and professional relationships. If you want to do this right, have a person advise you on what to do and when to do it. A good advice giver should be able to tell you what direction you should take when things go awry, help you decide between scenarios, and take care of mishaps. They should also be able to notice when you are keeping the best college friends and when you are keeping the worst. This person should tell you something as it is without sugarcoating but at the same time without hurting your feelings.
But just like the rest of the people and friends in your crew, your relationship with your personal advisor should not be one way. Learn to embrace constructive criticism and work toward improving your weak points. If you think you can give advice to this person too, do it. That way, you will be able to help each other grow and meet your goals.
Friends you should avoid
We have stated time and again that if someone is not adding any value to your academic life, they should not be part of it. Here is a quick list of students you should stay as far away as possible from:
People who zap energy from you. These include those who always want to copy your assignments instead of seeking help.
Friends who are jealous of you when you achieve something for instance, when you score great in an exam.
Those who are only with you during fun times but disappear when you are in need.
Friends who are always taking things from you and not giving in return. If you are a generous person, these individuals will take even things you value the most.
People who like starring in everything. Such people like talking about their problems for hours but when it comes to your turn they interrupt or change the conversation to be about them.