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How are you holding up in college? How’s your faith holding up? Honestly. College is an exciting, foundational season of life. It’s also a challenging one, especially for Jesus followers. I graduated in 2012, but I work today in college ministry and I still think about lessons I learned during my time as a college student.

Whether you’re a Freshmen or you already have some semesters of college under your belt, I’d love to share a few tips to help you get the most out of your experience (and put the most into it as well). Here’s my advice based on things I did well in college and things I wish I would have done better.

1. Have fun learning, and do your best to be a good student.

I’ve always been a good student and enjoyed school for the most part. To this day I love learning new things. Maintaining discipline and follow through, on the other hand? Yeah, I’m not so great at that. I don’t like that about myself, but it’s one of my vices that I constantly have to work to overcome.

I remember the first time it hit me that I really needed to conquer my natural struggle with discipline, particularly related to my major area of study (Music Industry and Sound Recording), because college isn’t like high school. You’re not just advancing to the next grade. When you graduate, you’re going to need to apply your education at a real job.

Whether you enter the field you plan to or enter a different field and adapt the skills you learned from your major, it’s important to take proficiency seriously. Don’t put pressure on yourself to be perfect; none of us is perfect. Do, however, pursue excellence and do the best you can.

Even those pesky core requirement classes that have nothing to do with your major and have probably frustrated us all at some point can help you become a more well-rounded person, even if it’s just to be a more knowledgeable, engaged conversationalist and person in society.

As you learn, though, know that you’re going to encounter a lot of worldviews and ideas and they’re not all going to be pleasing to God. Weigh everything against the truth of God’s Word so you don’t get “captured,” as Colossians 2:6-8 puts it, by ideas that are contrary to the ways of God. Remember: The Bible is your authority, your source of truth and guide for how to live, not the ways of this world. (2 Timothy 3:15-17 // Romans 12:2)

2. Take advantage of resources to help bridge the gap between college and career. 

Learn how to do interviews and write resumes well. Do internships that give you experience and connections in your field. Those can turn into job offers.

Your school probably has some type of student success center or workshops they’ll offer to give you tips and opportunities to practice this kind of thing. Mine did, and I wish I would have utilized those resources more. They’re valuable life skills to have, so take advantage of resources designed to help you be successful.

3. Don’t neglect your relationship with Jesus or with Christian community.

College is often a time when young adults drift away from faith, but it doesn’t have to be. You can still have a strong relationship with Jesus, be active in Christian community (Hebrews 10:23-25), and be a representative of Jesus on your campus.

Find the gaps of free time in your schedule and put time with Jesus in the gaps. You could spend time with Him early before class or before bed at night. You could pray when your roommate is at class and you have the dorm to yourself for an hour. I did both of those as a college student.

On busy days when I couldn’t have my devotion time alone at my dorm, I would to go to the quiet floor of the library between classes, pop my headphones in with some worship music, and read my Bible and pray.

I planned during which break between classes I would do that each day, depending on my schedule. I had a friend who would drive to campus early, bring her Bible and spend time with God in her car 30 minutes or so before her first class. Ask God to help you find what works for you.

If your college has campus ministries or even local churches nearby, find one and get connected. Once you’ve found your community, prioritize it. It doesn’t mean you can never miss a meeting; stuff happens. As much as you can, though, make Wednesday night 7-9pm–or whatever it looks like for you–a real commitment in your schedule, just like classes or studying. This is time you’re committing to spend with God amongst other believers.

Get to know people in your campus ministry and grab dinner in the dining hall together a few times a week. I’ve made great friendships this way that I still have today and my relationship with Jesus was made stronger for doing it.

4. Find wise ways to build relationships with people who aren’t Christians.

Be a person who points others to Jesus during your time on campus. You can’t do that if you’re hiding in a bubble and never have genuine interactions and friendships with people who don’t share your faith. 🙂

This is something I wish I would’ve done better. I was involved in a lot of impactful campus outreach events and I had a few close friends outside my Christian campus community that I hung out with regularly and we had some good conversations about Jesus too. I’m thankful for that, but I wish I would’ve been less fearful that branching out into more friendships with non-believers would harm my personal faith.

Get to know people who live in your dorm. Join clubs and organizations, whether interest or career based, and get to know people there. I’m not saying make friends to convert them. I’m saying make genuine friends, love them like Jesus, and share the hope of Jesus with them as He opens up the conversations. (1 Peter 3:15-16)

As you’re building friendships with people outside your faith, keep your Christian community a priority so you have encouragement and support. There’s a lot of temptation in college, so you have to be careful that you’re being a positive influence on others towards Jesus and they’re not being a negative influence on you away from Jesus. There’s nuance to this, and godly community will help keep you grounded and accountable.

Talk to God, as well as trusted Christian friends and mentors/leaders, about what balance looks like for you in this area. They can also help you make wise choices about how and when to hang out with different people and environments or when not to do it.

In college, if friends would invite me to go to partying, I’d respectfully say no and let them know that it wasn’t my scene. I’d thank them for the invite and suggest we do something else to hang out another time. We would get together in someone’s dorm and watch a show together every Tuesday night or something and just chill. I kept my boundaries of what I felt comfortable doing, the person felt respected because of the way I declined the invitation, and we still got to build relationship another way.

Don’t be shocked if this works out great in some instances and in other instances people think you’re a weird Christian kid and prefer not to be a closer friend to you. Faithfully following Jesus comes with being misunderstood and rejected sometimes. Trust God that He will establish the right relationships in your life and don’t take things personally.

You Don’t Have to Be Perfect

You’re not going to do everything perfectly and that’s okay; you don’t have to. God is kind and gracious toward you. He loves you. He gives you strength to do things that you couldn’t accomplish on your own. He directs your paths. (2 Corinthians 12:9 // Proverbs 3:5-6) Even with my imperfections and mistakes, I can honestly say that God has always directed me to the right relationships and opportunities, and He continues to do so to this day.

He’s covered things I considered a less than ideal decision and worked His purposes out of it. (Romans 8:28) He’s encouraged me when I felt like I was falling short. He’s helped me when I felt weak or needed guidance. He’ll do the same for you. So, take these tips as humble advice from a friend whose been where you are now and is rooting for you. Keep your eyes on Jesus, trust Him with all your heart, and give college your best shot. You’re going to do great.

Let’s Talk:  What’s been your biggest challenge in college and how are you learning to overcome it?  If you are a former or current college student, what advice would you add for Christian college students?  Discuss this post in the comments below.