Welcome back to another exciting year of college life!  This year you’ll have a wonderful opportunity to learn great and wonderful things from your professors, enhance your skills and…oh who are we kidding?  If I had a dollar for every template welcome back letter I’ve read assuring me that this was the year I would be on my way to becoming the next Einstein I’d have, well at least enough money for a few new Xbox 360 games.

More than likely you’re in college this year because you want to do better at the things that people tell you are suppose to happen after college.  Why else would you be paying tens of thousands of dollars to be lectured, given work to do and then told how you did listening to them ramble and doing their work?In a previous article I shared some insights for alumni that the administration won’t tell you.  Now I’m going to share some insights for students, from a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT) perspective that your administration probably omitted from your welcome letter.

Insight #1 – Don’t just live inside your classroom.  Now don’t get me wrong, I know that you’re paying loads of cash (or signing your life away to student loans) to get that classroom education, but there’s a lot more to college than what’s offered in the classroom.  It’s been my experience that most faculty will tell you that 80% of your college education happens inside the classroom.  However, most successful recent graduates that I know suggest it’s more like 50%.  Part of your role as a student is finding the right balance for you (and it’s different for each person) between what happens inside the classroom and what happens outside the classroom.

Insight #2 – Not everything in life can be found in books.  Regardless of if you’re in class or not, be on the lookout for what information isn’t being included, and ask about it.  Personally I don’t agree with the expression “the only stupid question is the one not asked” because I’ve been asked a lot of stupid questions.  However, regardless of what others may think of your questions, they are worth asking if for no other reason than you’re paying for the right to ask them!  So if you’re new to a student organization and information you’re looking for isn’t on their web site, or you want to know more about an aspect of chemistry that isn’t covered in your textbook…ask!

Insight #3 – Just because it doesn’t mention the gay community, doesn’t mean we aren’t a part of it.  Most high school graduates are amazed to discover that a major group of people tragically targeted during the Holocaust were homosexuals.  Or that the story behind homosexuality’s presence in the world of psychology really is horrifying and fascinating.  That the founding director of the FBI was more gender bending than Eddie Izzard.  And how often during economics did you discuss how equality helps improve the nation’s economy (even the US Government’s own Congressional Budget Office released a report talking about how same-sex marriage would provide a small boost to tax revenue).  One of the perks of college classes is that you’re free to ask your instructors to talk about the issues you’re interested in, as long as they relate to the general subject of the class.  Give your instructors feedback that you want more GLBT information!  Really…it’s okay…it’s what they’re paid for.

Insight #4 – Employers are just as interested in what you did with your free time as they are in what you did with your academic time.  An increasing number of employers want to know about your extracurricular activities.  Find things happening on your campus and in your area and get involved!!  It’s an election year, go volunteer for a local campaign office and get some field experience (although on the resume you may want to refrain putting what party or candidate you volunteered for).  Find a student organization on campus that interests you and join.  If there isn’t one on campus that interests you, start one.  If you stick with what you’re passionate about (and don’t be dragged into the things that seem like good resume builders) not only will you learn a lot and have fun, you’ll impress future employers.

Insight #5 – No really, you can make a difference at your college!  In future articles we’ll certainly be talking more about this.  The short of it is this – if there’s something on at your college you don’t like or want to change, what are you waiting for?  Wondering why your college doesn’t have a policy preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression?  Wishing that your campus had a GLBT Office you could apply for a job at or volunteer with?  You’d be amazed how far a meeting with an administrator or a town hall meeting on a topic can go.  Worried that the college might retaliate?  Remember that you’re paying them, but you’re right, some colleges aren’t as engagement friendly as others.  Check to see if your college has an Ombudsman (or Ombudsperson) or a Dean of Students.  You can run your idea past them, or a trusted professor, to get their input on what type of response you can expect.  But don’t let what they have to say discourage you, use their input to formulate your plans not terminate them.  Not only is this a great way to create positive change, it’s also a great way to make an impression on your college and hopefully get some positive attention from your college’s movers and shakers.

Insight #6 – It’s not always what you know, but who you know.  Perhaps one of the best reasons to keep all of the above insights in mind is that if you follow them (even if it’s just one or two) you’re bound to meet some interesting people.  You never know who your fellow students will become once they graduate (maybe that guy always talking at 100 miles an hour about Bush’s low approval ratings is the next President of these United States).  Or perhaps one of your instructors is the former Vice President of some huge department at some great organization you’d love to work for one day.  Maybe they didn’t have this job, but one of their former students does now.  If nothing else, letters of recommendations from someone with a title at a college is always a perk.

Hopefully your college will help you figure out how to manage your academic life.  It’s up to you to figure out how to manage the rest of your life.  College types have a lot of ideas on what classes you should take and what major is right for you, and some of them have some great ideas for the rest of college life too.  Just keep in mind that college will only be what you make of it, and you’re paying a lot for it, so why not make it something fun and truly beneficial for you?

Greg Varnum is the Executive Assistant and Youth Initiatives Coordinator at Triangle Foundation.  Triangle Foundation is Michigan’s statewide civil rights, advocacy and anti-violence organization serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and allied communities.