Let’s face the facts. We’ve all been there, the start of freshman year, eager for a taste of newfound freedom, new scenery, and new people. While all these things definitely hold validity for a brand new college girl, let’s consider the basic purpose of college: to get an education. The best part: you get to choose your field.
A few years down the road, and writing from a senior’s perspective, I’d like to give some friendly advice on some of the opportunities you won’t want to miss out on. If you’re serious about your future career, you’ll definitely want to take me up on this one.
Get an internship. Get one ASAP. Internships are one of the most important steps in pursuing a future career. The sooner you get this packaged taste of the real job environment, the better prepared you’ll be to rival your competitors for your dream job upon graduation.
You can find internships in a number of places including the U of U careers website found at http://careers.utah.edu/, internship links on your departments home page, your advisors, your professors. The trick is: don’t wait until it’s too late.
Get involved. Looking back with hindsight vision, there are so many opportunities I wish I’d known about as a freshman. Getting involved in extracurricular activities is a huge boost to your resume, and a great way to bust your comfort zone. Try looking through the student group info on the ASUU web page at http://www.asuu.utah.edu/. Join an intramural team, apply for an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Grant (UROP). Honestly, the opportunities are endless.
Take hands-on courses. One of the most fulfilling courses I took as an undergraduate was the TV Journalism course. Totally hands on. Talk about organizing, filming and editing video news stories on a weekly basis. Sure it was time consuming, but I came out of that class with a whole new skill set to add to my resume. There are tons of classes like this across majors. Look for them, and plan them into your schedule.
Enroll in a just-for-fun class. These classes saved me during my craziest semesters. When everything else was chaos, I always had my fallback in courses like kayaking, skate skiing, or even triathlon training. They provided the times I could count on for relaxation and fun, even when my schedule was peaking at its busiest. A little-known trick with the class catalogue is to look for courses under *LL, PRTL, PRTW, and PRTS.
Good luck with the rest of your semester! I hope you find the time to take me up on these suggestions. They definitely made a huge difference for me in my college career. You won’t want to miss out.