Open Letter to Prepas:
Hello there, fellow First Years. Welcome to your new year in the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. I am sure you have heard many things about the university. From the strikes, to the classes, to the professors and everything in between. But, now, it’s your turn to learn your own truths about your future home for the next four to six years or so
University is a place where you can grow and truly become yourself. The first year is always intense and you might feel lost, but trust me, you can be in your fifth year and still feel lost. It is always exciting to come back to the classroom, take those classes you fought so hard for during “matricula” (you’ll learn about this soon enough, we promise), make new friends, learn new things… Indulge in everything that being a college student means. With such liberty comes great responsibility of course. It is going to be on you to make it to class in time, to wake up for that 7am class and at least look alive for it
Sometimes you won’t be able to eat with your friends because class times won’t allow it, but soon enough you’ll find comfort in some alone time, enjoying those sweet meals that you can bring from home and heat up in any faculty (just look for the departments or ask around!), or going ahead and buying a delicious meal from El Centro or maybe even take a trip to Los Veggies in the Humanities faculty
But if eating alone isn’t your thing, have patience young one, because when the night comes on a Thursday night, is when Jueves de Rio comes alive, and so does the nightlife of our wonderful campus. Rio Piedras consists with La Avenida, which is the home to El 8 de Blanco, El Vidys, Los Monkeys, Arrope… All diverse with food, drinks, music and the best of all: our people. Though the places are filled with people who are not necessarily from the university, it is the main areas where you’ll possibly find your classmates drinking a beer to let go of the stress of the week
And so, just how you can study, eat, drink and dance your campus life away, you can also experience the great culture that Rio Piedras and La IUPI bring. El paseo de Diego is the home to art and expos, in our own campus we give life to art and music and the history of the great people who have come before us. The University of Puerto Rico isn’t only a university; it is also where you’ll probably have the best years of your life absorbing the things that are going to shape you into the best person you can become
With these words we encourage you to embrace everything that comes with this stage in your life. Be fearless, try new things. There’s always a bitter-sweet Monday to count on for that week reset.
– HCXO.