How to Survive and Succeed in College

I'm currently in the middle of my last required Master's class before I graduate. I completed most of my Master's before I got a teaching job, then got my teaching career going, and now, here in year four of teaching, I'm about to finish up the Master's. Since I took a few years off, getting back into the mindset and routines of a college student took some getting used to, but thankfully all the years of school I've had before taught me a great deal about what I need to do to succeed. I talk to my high school students all the time about what it takes to succeed, such as creating and maintaining good habits, reaching out for support, etc., but in college you're a little more on your own. Here are some of the ideas and strategies that have helped me.


1. It's all about attitude
The first and most important thing a college student needs to succeed is the right attitude. This isn't always easy, but you have to get yourself in the proper mindset before you can succeed. Yes, college is a lot of work and sometimes stressful (even more so if your high school experience was too easy or didn't fully prepare you), but letting those things bring you down mentally is the worst thing you can do. You have to regularly remind yourself why you chose to go to college, what your goals are, how the degree will help you obtain the life you want, and so on. When you have a positive attitude about earning the degree, going to class, doing the work, studying, and in general being a student who is bettering him/herself, then everything else will be easier. Try to not see each obligation as another task that you have to complete, but as another step towards your goal. Finally, remember that no one can fix or change your attitude but you. Take control of it.

2. Motivation
Inner or self-motivation is another thing that no one can fix or change but you. Some people are more motivated in school than others, but to succeed you'll need to find ways to get and keep yourself motivated. One of the most basic principles in economics is that people respond to incentives. So, ask yourself, "What motivates me? What do I want to accomplish?" Keep these incentives in mind when you don't feel like doing homework or studying, when you just want to sleep in or are thinking about not going to your last class of the day. There is no simple answer or cure-all to help with your motivation. It's all up to you.

3. Discipline
To succeed in any venture you need discipline. You have to control impulses, manage time well, make sacrifices, and work hard. Kind of like working out, the hardest part is usually getting started. So, when you have an assignment that you're dreading, check in with yourself about your attitude and motivation, then get started. Even if you just work on it for a few minutes, you will have broken the barrier and will hopefully be able to see that you will be able to finish it successfully. Another key aspect of managing your discipline is how you use your free time. A problem that I've had is what I would call striving for free time, meaning I just wanted to get done with things so I could have my free time. I've learned however that this mindset of focusing on free time only causes you to think of the free time you're losing (which, of course, will happen) and thus interferes with the positive attitude you're trying to maintain. When you focus on finishing tasks quickly to have free time, the quality of your work suffers. You will have to make lots of sacrifices during college, but with some planning and discipline, you'll start to find your balance.

4. Balance
As I was just mentioning, in college you need to find a balance between school responsibilities, family, friends, work (if you have a job), and your free time. In college you'll meet lots of new people from all over the world, you'll get invited to go out and to parties, your family will want to see you, you might have a job, and you'll need time to relax. However, this is all in addition to classes, homework, and studying. The best strategy here, in my opinion, is to prioritize. Make school your priority and then focus on the other things. If you do this and have the right attitude, motivation, and stay disciplined, then you'll be able to fit everything in. I remember having an excess of free time during college, but I never let other activities or diversions take away from my grades. Even still I had plenty of fun during those years and made life-long friends and memories.

5. Learn to like learning (if you don't already)
One of the biggest struggles I face as a high school teacher is the fact that many students don't seem to care about learning. Learning is "nerdy" or "lame" or "white," some of them say. As you might imagine, these are the students with low grades and unimpressive high school transcripts (and who might have some rude awakenings during adult life). If you think back to when you were a kid, what were some things that simply fascinated you? I remember being really into animals, the planets and space, maps, cars, and Batman, just to name a few. Kids have a natural curiosity, yet it seems to fade away as the hormones and pressures of social life take over during middle and high school. Well, I would say try to get that natural curiosity back. Learning about some historical event or how plant cells function might not directly help you in your future job, but that really doesn't matter. What matters is that you're a person who can learn and improve, and that's what you'll need to do in any job. Learning to like learning again will also greatly help with your attitude while in school. You have four years (or more) of college, so you might as well realize that you're there to learn and try to like it, if not love it. Learning is an end in and of itself. There doesn't need to be any other incentive or reward besides gaining knowledge and understanding the world better. As an example, one of the JROTC (retired military) instructors at my high school continues to take college history classes just because he loves them. Awesome.

6. Save your work online
One of the best things you can do for yourself as a student and in the working world is to use some kind of online service that saves your work for you. Two of most well-known are Dropbox and Google Drive (which you gain access to if you have a Gmail). These services save your work online and allow you access your documents (also photos, videos, presentations, spreadsheets, etc.) on any computer. By using one of these services you no longer have to rely solely on your computer to save your work (or flash drives). You never know what can happen with electronics, so it's best to have all of your documents backed up.

7. Read more
This one is something that might be at the bottom of your list of priorities and something you don't think you have time for, but it's something that will make school easier in every way: reading. Even if it's just fifteen minutes a day, reading for pleasure will keep your mind sharp, improve your vocabulary and memory, make you a better writer, improve your fluency, and reduce your stress. Just read some each day (even right before bed) and you'll start to see the benefits.

8. Listen to music while you work
Most people probably do this already, but see if you can find music that helps you concentrate while doing homework or studying. Some genres that have been shown to help include classical, instrumental, and music in a language you don't understand (so you don't focus on the lyrics). Really any type of music you enjoy will probably help you concentrate. This is something that can help your mind associate something that's not always fun (like homework) with something pleasurable (listening to music).

9. Take care of yourself
Get and stay on a good sleep schedule, eat as healthily as you can, drink plenty of water all day long, get regular exercise, and try to avoid stimulants like energy drinks, tobacco, etc.


Before and during college I had several jobs, all of which paid somewhere between $8 and $10 an hour. Now, thanks to my college education, I'm a professional with a career (not merely an hourly job) and I'm making nearly three times that amount an hour. I'm working on raising that even higher. Education is the key. 

Habits of Successful High School Students

After teaching for about a year and a half, I finally realized something very important: people need to have good habits in order to be successful. As a high school teacher, I also realized that if my students had good habits (or were taught good habits) they could be much more successful and it would actually make school easier. Each semester I’ve taught so far I’ve had to fail several students. The reason these students failed (and are now not on track to graduate on time) is not because they weren’t smart or capable of succeeding in school. The reason they failed is because each one of them had bad habits.

Life is a never-ending process of learning, growing, and improving, and high school is an extremely important phase of your life where you grow a great deal as a person. At times it may seem tedious, stressful, pointless, boring, or even like a waste of time, but I promise you that if you have a positive attitude about high school and realize how much it teaches you, high school can be one of the best times of your life. High school teaches you much more than math, science, social studies, and language arts: it teaches you how to be a person who can take care of yourself, get things done, work with others, and many other life skills.

These twelve habits are some of the most important habits high school students need to have in order to be successful in school. A habit is something you do almost without thinking about it; it’s something that you do regularly and often. Habits can either help you immensely or hurt you (think of a drinking or drug habit). If you have good habits, life will be easier and you’ll have much more success. If you can begin to make these twelve habits your own habits, I guarantee high school will become easier, more beneficial, and even more fun.

Posters of the twelve habits created by my student.

1. Being organized

• Organize your bedroom, bathroom, other rooms in your house, and your car.
• Organize your backpack, materials for each class (binders and/or folders), school supplies (pencils, pens), etc.
• Make sure your notes from class are organized (if you aren’t sure how to do this, ask Mr. Ortiz, another teacher, a friend, or a classmate).
• Consider using a planner to write down obligations for school and life.
• Organize files on your computer in folders so you always know where things are.
• Organize and save your files online somewhere (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) so the risk of losing your work doesn’t exist and you won’t have to rely on flash drives.
• Delete files you don’t need, and keep an eye on where downloaded files go and delete them if no longer needed.
• Organize your email inbox and settings.
• You should have a Gmail (it’s free) with an appropriately professional email address (e.g., antonio.ortiz@gmail.com, or antonioortiz19@gmail.com; not lilcutieswagg27@gmail.com or anything that is similarly unprofessional).
• Download the Gmail app for your phone as well.
• In addition, you can use other features offered by Google, such as Google Drive (we will be using this, so plan on this one), Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Translate, and more to help with your organization and with school work.
• Get all of your teachers’ email addresses and email them whenever you need to – it’s our job to help you and we will respond to emails.
• Use Google Drive for assignments, papers, and group projects. It saves your work automatically and can easily be shared, printed, and even downloaded as Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents.

2. Using time effectively and efficiently

• Being on time to school and having good attendance is vital to your success in high school. In addition, you must use your time outside of school productively to succeed.
• School is your number-one priority: you should only miss school if you are very sick, have a medical appointment, or a family emergency (“I didn’t feel like coming yesterday” is not an acceptable excuse).
• At night, figure out a schedule and a routine that helps you get everything done and allows you to get to bed on time (maybe this includes taking a shower a night, deciding on tomorrow’s outfit before going to bed, etc.).
• Getting enough sleep is one of the most important things you can do for yourself.
• In the morning, you must get in the habit of waking up on time, as well as getting ready for school in a timely manner (don’t take too long).
• Schedule time to do homework, study, and organize your school materials (be disciplined enough to actually get these done without distractions).
• And remember: we all need some free time, but free time cannot be what you strive for. Don’t let laziness win – stay focused and work on what’s most important.

3. Having the right priorities

• A priority is what is most important at this moment. Setting priorities is one of the most important things you can do to be successful because you will learn to focus on the most important tasks first and get to others only after your top priorities are met.
• School, grades, and attendance should be your top priorities. Friends, social media, and free time should be lower priorities.
• Successful students have their priorities in the correct order. They do not try to impress friends, gain extra free time, or only focus on what will be fun right now. They put school first and demonstrate great self-control.
• You must begin to think more about short- and long-term goals and how your choices today either lead you in the direction of those goals or lead you away from them.
• You have to make sacrifices. A little less free time now could mean much greater success later.
• What choices are you making today? Will they help you or hurt you?

4. Persistence

• To persist means to continue on a course of action despite challenges.
• There will always be challenges, difficult situations, and even failures in life, but one must always move forward and persist.
• Focus on the task at hand, and complete it to the best of your ability.
• School may be challenging in many ways, but successful students don’t let those challenges stop them from achieving their goals. They always find ways to push themselves, get help when needed, get better, and ultimately succeed. They persist.
• College, career, and life will require you to develop great persistence, and life rewards those who push forward. Life does not reward laziness.
• As the great adventurer Bear Grylls says, “Struggle develops strength and storms make you stronger.”

5. Managing impulses

• An impulse is a strong, often unthoughtful urge or desire to do something.
• High school students typically think in the moment and have a difficult time considering how their actions now will have consequences later.
• You need to learn how to control yourself, consider all potential consequences of your actions, and do what you know is right in any situation.
• Be a leader, not a follower. If you need to change yourself to impress a “friend,” that person is not a true friend.
• Did a friend just suggest skipping class? Control your impulse and say “no.”
• Feeling lazy? Think about your priorities and what’s important, and get focused.
• Did you wake up and think about staying home from school? Fight that impulse and consider how missing school will affect your grades and attendance, and think about the work you will have to make up later.

6. Taking control of phones

• To be successful, you must take control of your phone and not let it control you.
• Get in the habit of taking breaks from your phone once in a while.
• At school, your phone needs to be silent and put away during class.
• During class I highly recommend putting your phone in Airplane Mode – this turns off all connectivity features of your phone (cellular service, data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc.) and, as you might guess, saves a ton of battery.
• Finally, spend less time on social media. Studies have shown that too much time on sites like Facebook and Instagram can actually decrease happiness because we are constantly (and subconsciously) comparing our lives to the lives of hundreds of other people.

7. Focusing on being the best version of you

• Perhaps one of the most important habits for all people to have (not just students) is worrying less or not worrying at all what others think about them.
• Get in the habit of thinking less about what other students at school think of you, your clothes, your style, or anything, and focus on being you.
• Be respectful and kind to everyone, but don’t try to impress everyone or give in to negative peer pressure, because believe it or not, in a few years, you will still be in touch with maybe three to five people from high school.
• Don’t give in to doing things you shouldn’t do or things you know are wrong – be strong enough to say “no” when you need to.
• As one example, when your friends pressure you to ditch class, it’s the perfect time to say “no.”
• And remember: the only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday.

8.  Paying attention to your words

• Be mature enough to not talk bad about people behind their backs, gossip, spread rumors, or create drama.
• Talking negatively about other people is a very negative and harmful process, and it only lowers you down (tearing others down doesn’t build you up).
• If you have a conflict with someone, you should simply set up a time to talk to that person in a calm manner, express your feelings, and try to solve the problem.
• Remember: the only reason a person speaks negatively about other people is because he or she is insecure.
• You are free to talk however you want outside of class, but in class you should speak only in a professional and academic way (this means no swearing (cussing) and not saying anything disrespectful to your teacher or classmates).
• This habit will help you greatly in life because you’ll have a low risk of accidentally saying something inappropriate at your job, in front of your boss, around your older family members, etc.
• Finally, be careful about what you write and post online – one day a potential job or college might search for you on the Internet.

9. Balancing your relationships

• Relationships with friends, significant others, teachers, classmates, and family are all very important factors in your life right now; you must get in the habit of balancing all of them in addition to Habit #7 (Being the best version of you).
• First of all, friends are important and we all want to have lots of friends. I would advise, however, to actually be choosy with your friends. You should choose friends who make you better, have good goals, want to succeed, encourage you, support you, accept you, and are trustworthy.
• The trap most of us fall into is letting our desire to be accepted in a group overrule our need for true friends. Just remember that having a few good friends is worth way more than having a lot of fake friends (and again, one day you will likely lose touch with 99% of your classmates from high school).
• Girlfriends and boyfriends in high school can be very exciting and they can add a lot to your life, but keep in mind that you are still very young and things can change. Just be careful with your feelings.
• Having good relationships with your teachers is extremely important for you. Keep in mind that teachers must go through lots of school and training to become teachers, and the reason they are in this profession is to help you. Also remember that they are authority figures. They are your bosses right now and they make the rules (and give you grades). Give them the respect they deserve and you shall receive respect in return.
• Counselors, other school staff, and classmates are other people with whom you should have good relationships. Be kind, respectful, and honest with all of them, and they will be much more likely to help you with the inevitable challenges you will face during school.
• Getting along with your parents can sometimes be difficult. Always keep in mind that although your parents may not be perfect, they have worked very hard and sacrificed much to get you where you are right now. They deserve your utmost respect. If you’re having issues with your parents, try setting up a time to talk to them in a calm and mature manner. Remember, like teachers, they too are authority figures and they’re in charge.

10. Advocating for yourself in school

• This one is a challenge for many students, but you need to advocate for yourself, meaning you need to let your voice be heard sometimes.
• First of all, never be afraid to ask questions in school – raise your hand in class, talk to your teacher for a minute after class or set up a time to get help, ask classmates and friends, etc.
• If you think there is a way for you to complete an assignment, project, or presentation in a way that’s more comfortable for you or that aligns better with your learning style that’s different than what your teacher has assigned, let him or her know (there’s a good chance he or she will say “yes”)
• If you think something was graded unfairly, let your teacher know
• Be proactive in checking your grades often (you should use the myportal website and/or the Infinite Campus mobile app)
• Ask for extra credit to boost your grade
• Tying back to Habit #7 above, stick up for yourself and do what’s best for you when you need to (saying “no” to negative peer pressure, for example)

11. Managing metacognitive processes

• Metacognition means awareness and understanding of one’s own thought processes.
• Although it looks like a complicated word, it simply means thinking about how you think. So, ask yourself: “How do I think about things? Do I spend enough time thinking about how I go about life?”
• This habit involves learning how to recognize how you solve problems and make decisions.
• Students with this habit make effective mental plans, monitor their thinking, and evaluate and modify their processes in life (how they do things in general).
• They also learn from past experiences and from this determine new, more-effective ways to proceed.  

12. Trying your best

• In all aspects of life, what you do (or don’t do) says a lot about you.
• The work you do in school and at your job represents you: when you do good work at school, it represents you in a positive manner, and when you don’t do well on something, that represents you negatively (this then affects how you feel about yourself).
• If you get in the habit of just always trying your best – always putting enough effort and thought into your work – it will make such a positive difference in your life (better grades, better college, better job, better relationships with people, better life).
• Find your inner strength and motivate yourself to always try your best at whatever it is you’re doing.
• Lastly, remind yourself daily that to be great, it takes time and hard work. The greatest leaders, athletes, musicians, artists, scientists, and other highly successful people didn’t become great overnight – they put in countless hours of hard, focused work to get where they are now. This takes great discipline and focus, but if you have good habits and believe in yourself, you can, and will, accomplish your goals.