by Wren Summers

Created on: January 06, 2009

I stepped towards the door. Already my head was spinning, the campus alone was daunting. With every step, my newly graduated high school career was fading-all the smiles, grins, ups and downs-were shrinking away to somewhere way behind me, as the new realization began to sink in.

I am a college student.

I paused.

Holy crap.

Another student rushed by me, bumping my shoulder as he went. He flicked a glance over his shoulder, motioning to his watch before disappearing behind the door. I took a breath. This was to be the first class of my first day of my first semester of college. Freshman to the core. The handle was cold as I gave it a twist.

I slipped inside and closed the door behind me.

The first few weeks consisted merely of trial and error. D after C, then B after A, I eventually twisted my way to finding what seemed to actually work. Though the seas never smoothed completely-it is college, after all-they weren't the snarling, spitting, think to you drop with D's to follow mess as it was before. Although I'm sure you've already encountered those certain students that seemed to have come pre-dispositioned for college, brains already full as they do nothing but party and produce A's faster than you can count them, but for the rest of us, there is hope too. Below is a list of the top ten things that will help keep yourself afloat-and actually sailing heartily-over the seemingly endless seas of college work. Derived from pure pain and experience, these tips are spoken from what really helps. (After all, it could be just that the A Partiers have just found this list faster than you have.)

1) Stay Ahead of the Game

It's one thing to start at the fore-front, but another thing to stay there. You need stamina. Keep tabs on your assignments-don't let them slip. Even one that gets by you can ricochet and cause an avalanche. By not missing even a single assignment, you wont fall behind, and as slight as that may sound to you now, it could be the black mark of your record someday. It is twice as hard to catch up, than it is to just stay with the flow. So don't skip, don't procrastinate, and drink coffee.

2) Pay Attention

This may seem like common sense to you. Though I guarantee you, that at any given time in any of your classes, you can look around and be able to spot someone far off in the corner, sleeping. And I can also guarantee you that that person is not the one with the A in the class. As a college student of many years, I know how draining you can feel at times. With work,

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