How could students get more from college?

Unless you're studying something technical, you won't learn much in the classroom. I gained a lot of experience in my journalism school program, but I really learned about the news through being the editor-in-chief of one of the campus newspapers that I had the opportunity to rebuild.

Midway through my college career, I worked weekends at a busy downtown Toronto restaurant, that had an open market concept. This required me to speak to hundreds of people for eight hours a day and make food, in front of customers while they watched. There was also open fire. Nothing taught me social skills or how to perform under pressure quite like that. Perfect for my career as a reporter.

Not everyone can work during college, but try to. Before this job, I was somewhat introverted. Once I was doing this job constantly and getting in a rhythm, I could talk to anyone, no problem.

You know what every student ignores in college? Their health! I wish @JamesAltucher's podcast existed in the 2000s when I was in school, since he's had people on his show who talk about how to optimize the brain.

This doesn't mean you aren't concerned about getting on academic probation, but your GPA doesn't mean much. When I was a freshman in college, a professor wrote in the campus paper that GPA matters. In one of the first pieces I ever wrote for campus media, I argued that it didn't, because it felt like advanced high school and I wasn't learning any skills. It turned into a thing. Guess which I learned more from in the end and got me farther - writing for the paper, starting with that piece.

When I was in school, I took classes like "Theories of Human Nature" because I needed to learn about people before I left. One of the most interesting books I read was Machiavelli's The Prince. I was also majoring in philosophy at the time, could've used some stoicism and Robert Greene on the syllabus.

I went to journalism school, which was supposed to teach you how to write. And it largely did. But, you know what book we NEVER read? The Elements of Style by William Stunk Jr. and E.B. White. Not even in copy editing class! It was created in the Ivy League for Ivy Leaguers! The only reason why I came across it was because I was doing odd jobs for a guy one summer and he wrote plays in his spare time. I got try out the stuff I learned in class and at the paper as editor-in-chief, and then it surely got me a job as a reporter at my first news outlet.

Not just with people who are your age, but people who are different from you - maybe they have a more privileged background than you. Or they're younger or older. Maybe they're studying something different. The point is, college is an eclectic mix of people, and you're doing yourself a disservice not meeting them.

If you're in college, I feel it's your purpose to talk to people. Most people are isolated to their classes. At least in my case, people are pretty open to talking to you if you aren't weird. This point is more of an addendum to the last one. My logic when I was in school was, "It's a lot of work to get into this school, which means every class I'm in has really smart people. If I don't try to talk to them, I'm unnecessarily cutting myself off from those people."

Just don't be too stupid. Go to the party. Take the trip. Take any reasonable offer. You're only young once.

This was one of my biggest regrets during my time in university. Though not as big in Canada, college sports are free entertainment for students. You also learn a lot outside the classroom - stuff like team work, excellence, resiliency etc.