Thinking about the transition.

One thing you will never ever ever forget about in engineering school is the amount of homework that comes your way. However, this is a lot like just having projects at work only YOU DO THEM AT WORK! You check your e-mails at work, and talk to people at work, and create programs at work (Okay, some of us geeks might bring it home with us but that's beside the point). The point is, you do things at work, and then you come home, and do things at home. When your in school, there is no line between life and school. Your life IS school and there's nothing you can do about it. Here's a couple tips for making sure you have a life (and keep your good grades):

• If you commute, use your breaks at school for doing homework (commuting also saves money dorm-wise). You can complete all of your homework at school so that when you get home, you are free to run off wherever you want. 
• Have friends both at school and at home. And talk to them! 
• Be friends with all (or at least most) of your classmates. For the next four years they will be your family. You don't want to be stuck in a room of people you hate, which will eventually make you hate what you went to school for in the first place. 
• Again, if you commute, keep your books in your vehicle. This will allow you to do your homework wherever and whenever. So if you ever have a bored moment, do your homework. Then you'll have more free time. 
• Look over your class notes almost immediately after having the class. This reinforces the knowledge in your head so when you go to study for tests or people ask you questions, you'll have an easier time explaining what's going on. 

I think that's all I have for now, but as I'm thinking back on how I made it through college, I think it was pretty easy. Yes, I worked my butt off, but I wasn't stressed about it. I guess one more tip you could add to the list is to not get stressed. Being stressed just makes you irritable, which makes it harder for you to understand what's going on. In the famous words of Nike, "Just do it."

See you tomorrow.