Staying active describes your level of engagement with your education. An active student will attend every class and participate, become a part of campus activities, develop close friends, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Staying active is essential to doing well in classes. When failing students are asked what they did to get into trouble, their typical response is “nothing”. Nothing means they rarely left their dorm rooms, they became depressed, they had few friends, and they were generally lost.

Here are some things you can do to become active:

1. Develop a to-do list every day. See the topic Planning Your Day -1. Keep a scorecard on how well you did. Your to-do list should include:
   • Academic needs (classes, labs, studying)
   • Campus activities (organizations, intramurals, and going to athletic events)
   • Activities with friends (include informal time with friends)
   • Health related activities (working out)
2. Develop a friend in every class you are taking. This is someone you can study with, share notes with, and call you if you are missing class.
3. Find an organization to join. Often you will find others with similar interest in those organizations.
4. Start developing friends with similar values and academic needs. One of the great joys of college life is your friends.
5. Set fitness goals and go to the campus recreation center to fulfill your goals. Often these times in the rec center can be a great stress reliever.
6. Find someone you can entrust to get you back on track if you start slacking off. See the topic Developing an Academic Power of Attorney. This step really critical if you want to avoid becoming a “nothing student”.

None of this is hard to do, but it does take the initiative to accomplish. That initiative has to come from you..