<p>Learn how to deal with a medical appointment on your own – including making the appointment, showing up on time, remembering to bring your insurance card and some money for the co-pay, bringing a list of questions, having the courage to ask them, and making sure to understand the details of how to take the prescriptions you’re given (rather than calling mom at midnight to ask “Does ‘every six hours’ mean that I have to set my alarm and get up during the night?”) Also, if you’re told to come back for a follow-up appointment, actually do it!</p>
<p>Learn to read the labels on over-the-counter medications and to inquire with your pharmacist about possible interactions between over-the-counter medications and prescription medications that may contain overlapping ingredients (so you won’t poison yourself with too much acetaminophen and end up having a liver transplant).</p>
<p>Take ALL of the antibiotic pills in the prescription, even if you’re feeling better.</p>
<p>Learn to figure out what you have to take with you every time you leave the house (or your dorm room), and then actually bring those things with you.</p>
<p>Learn to figure out how much lead time you need to get to wherever you’re going, and then actually allow yourself that much time and maybe a little extra.</p>
<p>Back up your files.</p>
<p>Actually get up in the morning when your alarm goes off, rather than turning it off, rolling over, and waking up five hours later. (This works better if you also learn to go to bed at an hour that allows you to get enough sleep.)</p>
<p>Learn to write a brief, polite, businesslike e-mail. In real life, this is something most people do several times a day.</p>
<p>In the same vein, get rid of that silly e-mail address you’ve been using, and get something inoffensive (like <a href="mailto:firstname.lastname@gmail.com">firstname.lastname@gmail.com</a>).</p>
<p>Learn not to fall asleep while wearing your contact lenses.</p>
<p>When all else fails, read the directions. (You might even consider reading them before all else fails.)</p>
<p>Learn to do things in advance of deadlines – just in case you get sick, the power goes out, the roads are closed because of snow, or whatever computers are involved in the process go crazy.</p>
<p>Learn to choose a reasonably healthful diet from the options available, rather than living entirely on potato chips and ice cream.</p>
<p>Do not post pictures of yourself or others engaged in illegal or morally dubious activities on Facebook or other corners of the Internet. Understand why you should not do this.</p>
<p>Learn how to drive carefully in a parking garage so that you won’t damage your mom’s car (well, this may not be relevant to college, but it’s something my 21-year-old son still needs to learn).</p>
<p>And finally – and this is the number one thing I’m been drumming into my kids’ heads for a decade – if at all possible, complete your education before reproducing. You will be glad of this later on. It is incredibly difficult to finish a degree if you are already a parent.</p>