 Hey guys, welcome back to my channel. My name is Sonali. Today I'm gonna be sharing some advice and hacks to get through college because I know it's a crazy time in our life and I personally needed all the advice I can get and still do. So I'm here to share all the things I learned. Let's get started. So if you didn't know, you do have to make your own schedule in college, which is insane to me because I've never had to do that in high school or middle school. I know some high schools do give you the options to kind of like play around with your schedule a little bit, but for the most part, except for electives, I couldn't really choose the classes I was taking and at what times, like they were just kind of given to me. So coming to college, it was a very big shock because I didn't even know how to plan out my schedule. My freshman year, I thought it would be an awesome idea to have all 9am classes, which obviously wasn't the best idea. I mean, don't get me wrong, I did like getting my classes over earlier in the day, but it's just really not realistic, especially if you are a part of an organization or a club that may have, you know, social activities during the night or if you are in a really hard major and you have to study all through the night, you know, it's really nice to have like a 10, 30 class or like a 12 o'clock class. I am in the works of planning out my schedule for a spring semester right now and what really helped me was writing down all the classes I could take and at what times they were available. And then I kind of just like drew out a week's calendar and put them on the times and the days that they go on. And then from there, I picked the times of classes that I really wanted. For example, I saw that I had a noon class, so I definitely wanted that one. And then I had like a little later than noon. So I was like, okay, that will fit with this one. So when you go out with friends, you might not have a designated driver or a DD. And for the nights that you don't, I highly recommend taking a lift ride. You guys have probably heard of Lyft. It is a ride sharing app and it's super easy. And what's really cool about Lyft is that you can split the cost right in the app. So you don't have to like worry about collecting the money later or remembering to remind someone to pay you back or having to deal with cash because sometimes that's a little bit annoying. There's been so many times that I was just kind of like taking the lead and buying the ride and then no one ever paid me back. But it's awesome that they have the ability to split the cost in the app itself. Plus Lyft drivers let you listen to your own music, which can make like the nights out with your girlfriends way more memorable. When it comes to buying textbooks, never ever ever buy them for full price. Like I swear I spent like more than $300 on textbooks my freshman year because they didn't know is a thing that you could buy at other places and get it for a lot cheaper because they are maybe used or you can rent them. So I definitely recommend taking this route because it's insane how much money you could be saving. Whenever I take notes in class, I always, always, always take notes on any kind of note taking app that can sync with your phone to your computer. So I can take notes on my computer and then right when I pulled the app on my phone, the notes are magically there and it's awesome because one time I stupidly forgot my computer at home, but I had all my notes on my phone and I actually needed my notes for class that day. So it worked out perfectly. So when it comes to eating, you may not be able to cook because you may not have a kitchen, you may not have a fridge. So if you do have a meal plan, I really recommend not going back for that second plate and that's probably not something that you guys want to hear. But there's been so many times that I have just gotten that second plate that I didn't need. And it really helps to just slowly eat your food because you might not realize how full you're getting if you eat super fast. And another thing with that is it's great to fill like almost half or more of your plate with vegetables rather than carbs. And you guys may think that the myth of freshman 15 is only for freshman year, but it can happen to you sophomore and junior year and senior year too. So just be careful. Take advantage of student discounts. It's insane of how many places that offer student discounts. So it never hurts to ask the cashier if they do offer them. Even if it's like less than a dollar that you're saving, it definitely adds up over time. So one of the main things that I have kind of adopted into my daily routine is planning out my days in my planner or just in like a calendar app on my phone. I find that the calendar app is really helpful because when you're planning something with your friends, you can just quickly look at your phone to see if you're not doing anything that day. And sometimes you won't have like your planner on you if you're like out at a restaurant or anything like that. I definitely like calendar apps better. But sometimes I do get in the moods where I need to see like everything written out in front of me. So that's when I would use my planner. This really helps me with my social media with my YouTube with school with my sorority and planning out your days definitely helps with time management. So as you guys know, many college students are on a very tight budget and I would recommend checking any cheaper or dollar stores around you for what you may need before going to any of like the bigger art stores or even the grocery stores, especially during big little or anything you have to craft for. I really recommend checking like any cheaper stores first before going to the art stores because you could find like a little tea light candle for like a dollar. If you have a busy week of studying for so many exams, if it's midterm week, if it's finals week, anything like that, I recommend planning one fun thing that you can look forward to maybe at the end of the week or maybe in the middle of the week so you can kind of like take a break. But it's definitely not healthy to like lock yourself up in the library for a week straight. So definitely make sure you are having some kind of fun and something to look forward to. And my last college hack is if you are in the dorms or if you do have a roommate, I definitely recommend finding a spa on campus or at a local coffee shop that you like to go to to get stuff done because maybe you and your roommate are best friends and you get really distracted. But going to a coffee shop or going to any kind of like outdoorsy place that's really quiet could get you in the zone to study and buckle down and do your homework and just do whatever you have to do. And it's important to find your favorite place to do this at because when you do know you have to do homework, you don't have to sit there on yelp searching for a place to go. You just already have one in the back of your mind. So I hope you guys enjoyed this video and if you guys are interested in a $5 off coupon for your first lift ride, then click the link in my description below and you can sign up for an account. So next time you go out with your friends, you possibly have a free ride, which is pretty freaking cool. So I will see you guys in my next video. Bye guys!