I took all of these items into account while in college, but I wish I had done it more often.
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Take advantage of your school, and surrounding environments. I miss the wood shop, I miss the laser cutter, I miss the print shop, I miss being able to find people outside of my studio to talk to and take in what others were doing.
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Enjoy college! I was definitely in the studio more than I should’ve been and I don’t know if it was more productive. There were nights I would sit there and nothing gets done. If there’s a party, get your shit done and party (or read a book if that’s more your pace).
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Get some fucking sleep and eat right. You won’t feel like shit all the time. Emotionally and physically. I didn’t have a problem with this, but it was appalling to see what my peers put themselves through. 2 hours of sleep with redbull and doughnuts are literally destroying your body.
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Explore what you want to do in the future. Don’t just do what you’ve been told to do. Every program has their set of projects, but if you want to do something that is not covered, this is the time to do it. Collaborate, get ideas, and explore.
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Fail Be ok with failure, as it’s the only way to learn, and while you’re in college, there is limited repercussions.
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Documentation and Portfolio Always do your projects with your portfolio in mind, get those pictures, write down your thoughts at the time, save those sketches. Process in king, and if you can’t show it in your portfolio, you’re not offering much to your potential employers. A year or two after you’re done with a project (or even a month after), you’ll wonder why you didn’t take more pictures of your model that you threw away.