What I Wish I Knew at Admissions Week
The first week of university is an exciting, giddy experience of high hopes and mornings spent with waking up with brave new worlds of hangover. There are so many new things and new experiences coming at you all at once. It is as if the donut of your life has a brand new filling and it tastes like freedom. But, amid the haze and audacious life-affirming zest that pervades through the campus ether during this time, certain things must still be done. Sorry to get all grey on you, but it’s for your own good… still here? Read on.
Get a Map
The thing about many university campuses is that all the buildings look the same. All the classrooms and labs look very similar and they sprawl like an unimaginative toddler just toppled a tower very similar-looking blocks and some equally unimaginative architect assembled them in rows of very similar rooms. Amid this parity, there are a few surprises. You open the door to what you think is your seminar class and it’s a whole lecture theatre or laboratory you’ve never seen before. Then you realize you’re in the wrong building. Don’t fail like this! No-one wants to look like a tourist but then again, no-one wants to walk around with a dazed expression for hours. So take a map
Sign all Admin Promptly
So at this time in my life I was very much of the ‘I’ll do it later, what’s the rush?’ attitude. This is not the attitude to have towards various administrative duties that must be performed upon entering your university. These things exist for a reason and they always come back and bite you, sometimes in the form of fines or worse. So do make an effort to conform to suffocating bureaucracy.
Make Friends with People on your Course
It can be really helpful to have friends on your course. While it is easier and more natural to make friends with roommates and friends who live very close, or people in your fraternity or sorority, it is course friends who are going to lend you books, update you on lectures you missed and share hints and tips. Buy them coffee regularly.
Go to the Activities Fair
A whirligig of choice and potential friends, at the Activities Fair there’s a lot to take in so do explore and experiment. Along with your studies activities are an important feature of university life but they do require a time commitment. So I’d sign up for a lot, try a few different ones and then stick to one or two societies you can really make a contribution to.
Be the first to comment