UNITED STATES—College is back in session for those undergraduates, and for those high school students stepping onto a college campus for class the first day can be a bit daunting. When people say it’s a whole new ballgame, they’re not lying. There comes a level of freedom, excitement and responsibility with being a college student. One of the biggest perks is your parents are not watching your every move.
Can that be a bit dangerous? Absolutely, but a responsible individual knows what he or she should or should not be doing. And even if you don’t, your conscience will inform you of it. Move-in day can be scary. I remember it like it was yesterday; having to live with a roommate or roommates who may not be the most considerate person. Having to lug tons of things to your dorm: school supplies, bathroom supplies, clothing, microwave, refrigerators, the list goes on and on. The one thing every college student should know: your room is not as big as you think it is.
Getting settled into your room is not that much of a problem; getting familiar with your campus that is an entirely new ballgame. I’m a Spartan, for those of you not in the know. I graduated from Michigan State University, and the campus is pretty substantial, to say the least. My first day of class I was a bit nervous about where to go. I remember using my map to scope the location and found things perfectly.
However, I realized it was more important was to just venture through the entire campus, which made me more comfortable on how to find things and helped prevent me from getting lost. Getting lost is like a rite of passage for a college student.
It teaches one not only how to navigate a map, but how to use specific buildings or things as guide to finding your destination. The one thing people used to ask me time and time again is how long it would take to walk from one side of campus to the other. I’d say around 35 to 45 minutes. Trust me, I did this on countless occasions; it was really good exercise for the body. Heck, the more you do it, the quicker your time becomes. The freshman year is always a tough one, in my opinion. Getting acclimated to a new environment, people and regimens is not easy.
Things become a bit easier in the sophomore year, but come junior year you can sense the light at the end of the tunnel. At least that’s how I felt. As much as I loved college, I was more concerned about finishing school so I could begin my career. You get a small tinge of senioritis during your junior year. I will admit the start of junior year ushers in a heavier and more demanding work load.
I was not a fan of having a campus job because the pay totally sucked and the university was well aware of it. Are you seriously going to look me in the eye and say that $1500 a semester for 20 plus hours of work a week is feasible? Not even close. Do what you can to keep money in your pocket, you’ll need it. That’s the one thing people underestimate, even the parents; school is costly. Not just tuition, but room and board and all those other amenities.
Books alone can break the bank. I remember one semester my books totaling close to $1,000. Yeah, that is crazy, that’s just one semester. After my freshman year I became very smart. Yeah, you can buy your books and sell them back at the end of the semester, but before you know it most of those books had no trade in value or you got little to nothing back for them.
To save some bucks I would get my course syllabus for all my classes as soon as possible to find the appropriate books needed and check them out from the library or make photo copies to save money. No need to purchase a book new, unless you have no choice. Don’t WASTE MONEY!
The social aspect of college is a thrill; hanging out late with friends, attending parties, sporting events or a late night study session. Just be careful walking the campus at night, alone. MSU was a pretty big campus and at night not many souls would be seen canvassing the campus grounds, plus we didn’t have a massive amount of light to shine throughout the campus. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Attending classes is another tricky subject. Attendance is not taken in most of your classes, so your decision to go, or not to go, to class was completely up to you. The funny thing I reflect back now is the fact that I only missed class maybe a total of 10 times for all of my classes. I had this complex of missing something important so I would always try to go to class. I never missed class because I overslept; it was either to prepare for winter break or to finish an assignment for another class.
When it comes down to it, I tell every single undergraduate to enjoy their senior year. That was literally the best year of my life because so many things good and bad, more good than bad, were happening around me. It flies by so fast; you start to think, “what happened?” Most important of all the college lifestyle is unlike anything else, and everyone should get the opportunity to enjoy it because you’ll love every moment of it.
