Category: default || By jt3y

It's that time of year, when students around the region are entering colleges, universities and, in some cases, reform schools. People often ask me: "Did you intend to dress that way?" They never ask me, "Say, what advice do you have for students entering college?" So, I've decided to answer that question instead.

1. Choose your major well. A retiree that I knew and admired gave me a valuable piece of advice: "Get a job that you like. Otherwise, you've got two jobs, and the first is getting out of bed in the morning." Don't choose your major based on what your parents think, or that you're choosing only based on its future earnings potential. On the other hand, you're best served by selecting a major with some practical value, because those college loans are going to come rolling in sooner than you think. (That means that if you want to become a writer, technical writing is a better option than, say, poetry.)

2. Run far, far away from Citibank. And Chase and Bank of America and Discover and all of the other people on campus who are going to be plying you with credit card offers. They'll ply you with gifts like crummy plastic water bottles and pen and pencil sets; you can buy stuff of better quality at a dollar store. They'll tell you that getting a Visa or Mastercard will help you establish a credit rating, which is true, but you can do that just as easily with a department store card or a gasoline card, and they don't have giant credit limits that are going to get you in trouble. (Just make sure you pay them off every month.) The credit card people will also tell you that they're good for emergency expenses, but once you have them, you're going to be tempted to whip out your Visa or Mastercard to pay for lunch or other frivolous expenses. Then you'll wind up paying 12 percent interest on a cheeseburger you ate a month ago.

3. Discover the world outside the dorm. I talk to people occasionally who had miserable college experiences. When I ask them why, I usually find out they didn't get involved on anything on campus. Join a club or participate in an IM sport. The average college has about 900 different activities, from board game clubs to rugby teams. It will be the quickest way to make friends on campus and find cheap entertainment.

4. Get practical experience. When you graduate, few if any potential employers are going to want to see your transcript. They will want to know if you've produced anything of value during your college career. So take internships in your field or work on student projects. Save samples of your best work. Ask for leadership roles in groups that you join, and then make sure to do the work you're given. Telling a recruiter at a job interview that you were president of the campus chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers and built a race car your senior year is going to impress him or her more than a resume that shows good grades but no outside activities.

5. Treat people like you want to be treated. That seems pretty basic, but a lot of people have played "big man on campus" during their college years, only to graduate and find their status evaporating. Don't forget, too, that people who are your classmates now may be a potential co-worker or boss in a few years, and they will remember the slights and petty offenses.

6. Don't be stupid. Underage drinking may seem like a victimless crime, until you get busted. Then it's just a crime, and when you have to fill out that first job application and they ask if you have a criminal record, how are you going to answer? (Remember, you're an adult now in the eyes of the law, and your record isn't sealed any more.) If you're going to drink anyway, then for crying out loud, be discreet, and don't drive. If you're going to fool around (and you probably will, those people going into the seminary excluded, I hope), use protection. (And girls, don't trust us guys, 'cause we lie.) Nothing will put a wet blanket on your college experience like those three-times-a-week visits to the STD clinic. Remember No. 5? People will remember if you were a jerk. They'll also remember if you were the campus drunk, stoner or skank.

7. Don't sweat the small stuff. You may get wrapped up in undergraduate intrigues, arguments, political protests and other "scandals" that will seem overwhelming at the time. Your first failing grade, or worse yet, a completely screwed-up semester, may seem like the end of the world. Keep your perspective and don't do anything you'll regret later on. A year after you graduate, your problems will be forgotten, and you'll wonder why you were so upset at the time.

8. Keep your perspective. It helps to get off campus once in a while, get some fresh air and see the real world. The sun will continue to shine (OK, maybe not in Western Pennsylvania) and people off-campus will continue to live happy lives despite the current upheaval in the college chess club or the misery of calculus lectures. It also helps to imagine the worst possible scenario, which probably isn't that terrible. Maintaining your ties with your friends at home will help, as will getting an off-campus job or just making time for a trip to the mall, the movies or a baseball game. (That last one is particularly important. If you're miserable, why not go to a Pirate game and see what real misery looks like?)

If any college students see this, I hope the advice helps. And if your college or university needs a commencement speaker, I'm available at extremely reasonable rates to dispense additional hackneyed, homespun "wisdom."

Heck, unlike some fancy-pants scientist or celebrity, you could probably get me for a cheese sandwich and carfare home. (I'm not proud.)

(Needless to say, opinions expressed here are not those of my employer or of anyone else, as far as I know. But you knew that.)

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Gas Pains: Readers of the Mon-Yough Gas Gauge know that the cheapest gas in Our Fair City this week was $2.489 per gallon. Find out where, and report your gas sightings today!

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Local News You May Have Missed: I though this story from Irwin in Thursday's Post-Gazette was inspiring. The borough's deputy fire chief, Shawn Stitely, was severely injured in a motorcycle crash back in April on Route 30. Doctors told him he might never walk again, and that if he did, he might be able to return to work in six to seven months.

He went back to work last Monday, and walked to the podium at the borough council meeting this month.

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To Do This Weekend: Turtle Creek Community Days will be held tonight and tomorrow night at the town square near the borough building, 125 Monroeville Ave., featuring games, rides, food and bingo. The Vogues perform at 8 p.m. Saturday ... Dallas Marks plays the Hartford Heights Volunteer Fire Department on Route 30 in North Huntingdon (near the old Blue Dell Drive-In) tonight. Call (412) 823-9796 ... the Stonee Ridge Band plays Paintertown Volunteer Fire Department, Paintertown Road near Irwin Country Club in Penn Township, on Saturday night. Call (724) 863-1338.