While college is a great place to make a new name for yourself—you have to think of the name you are creating. Making a name for yourself is a super broad subject to talk about because not only must you talk about creating the name, you also have to talk about managing your name once it is created. When someone mentions your name, what do you want them to think? There are a number of different answers that could be said. Here are some tips on creating and managing your reputation.
College Reputations Aren’t Easily Broken
I know that when you first come to college you may have ulterior motives. You may want to spite your parents or ex-boyfriend who dumped you after 2 long years. You may want to prove to your “friends” back home that you can become something more than what they can ever aspire to be. I am not here to judge your motives, ulterior or otherwise. Before you go making decisions about the reputation you want though, remember that once your reputation is given—it’s hard to take back. This is why high school may have seemed sucky. You can’t really run from a reputation, bad or good, so be careful of how the reputation you want now can affect you in the future.
Get Involved In College
The best way to start making a name for yourself is to get involved. Join a club, speak up in class, go to a party. Don’t use this as a tool to get your name out there. Use it as a tool to meet a lot of cool, like-minded people. Your name and reputation that you are building will naturally follow as you get more involved, meet more people, and create better friendships.
College Campus Legends Don’t Exist
In real life, sorry to burst your bubble, there aren’t a lot of “campus legends” hanging around. Do your best to meet a ton of people and expand your social circle. That is about as good as you can get to truly becoming a campus legend—knowing almost all the campus. I have never met a true campus legend in my life—so their like Bigfoot, except they are always on fictional television shows about college.
Be Known In College For The Right Reasons
This comes back to management of your reputation. Sure you will be known on campus a lot quicker if you are sleeping with half of the male population at your school—but that kind of reputation can scar you for a long time to come. Be aware of the kind of reputation you have around campus.
Don’t Spread Rumors In College
Leave the rumor mill to the high schoolers and stop spreading rumors. Rumors get around, and so do the names of people who are involved with them. Rumors are one of the easiest ways to tarnish your reputation. If you don’t indulge in rumor spreading, your name won’t show up when people talk about rumors being spread. This will save you a lot of unneeded embarrassment in the end.
I hope these tips about making a name for yourself and managing your reputation proved helpful for you. Get involved, and be awesome in college. When you do that though, think about how your actions will affect your future self.
