As a freshman, I’m slowly coming to the end of my very first year of college. I’ll spare you the emotional memories and bizarre stories for now, because you will more than likely be seeing an overly-sentimental entry from yours truly in the near future. I can’t completely do that yet, though, because the year isn’t actually over.
Even though I’m pretty sure we’re all more than ready for that.
There are a mere few weeks left in this semester, and you know what that means, right? No? Okay. It means it’s time to buckle down and finish out the semester strong. Unfortunately, no, it doesn’t mean stop going to class and fly home before finals week. Disappointing, I know. So before you completely check out and get into full summer mode, here’s a pretty little laundry list of everything you should accomplish prior to the sought after summer months. Some are purely academic, others simply important to the freshman experience.
1) Check on your grades. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ve been doing no less than exemplary in all of your classes, but it never hurts to know where you stand in a class. Make a list of all of your current grades, as well as your goal grades for each class. This can serve as great motivation to start studying for your final, or just going to class.
2) Go to office hours at least once. Before your professor starts getting bombarded with appointments, go have a nice chat with them. It’s true that if a professor at least somewhat knows you, they will be more inclined to bump your 89.98% in their class to a 90%. It’s the little things, y’all.
3) Meet with your advisor and pick your classes. Enough said. Before your registration date, go onto UAccess and check out all of the class times. Add your desired classes to your shopping cart. Then, be happy on registration day because you got all of the classes you wanted. If you find yourself sitting at work or in class and doing nothing, make a mock schedule for next semester. If you’re planning classes back-to-back, make sure to look up where the classes actually meet. If you don’t, this may result in the ultimate challenge of getting from Bio Sci West to Gittings in less than 10 minutes. Yikes.
3a) Sign up for Psych 150 if you know what’s good for you, or if you feel like putting little to no effort into a 3-credit INDV class and getting an A just because you’re awesome. You’re welcome.
4) Bond with the people in your dorm. Chances are, you may be growing to somewhat resent many people you live with at this point. This is because you’ve lived with them for the past 7 months, and you’re all getting sick of each other. However, “dorm lyfe” is a once in a lifetime experience, so make an effort to at least tolerate the people in your dorm if you’re in this situation. More likely than not, you won’t have the same roommate/suitemates/floormates next year.
5)As annoyed as you may be with these people, you have to admit that they contributed to your first-year experience. Love them for the next 5 weeks. Cue “You’re Gonna Miss This” by Trace Adkins. “Awwww”-ing ensues.
6)Great bonding experiences include but are not limited to: receiving noise complaints on Wednesday nights, middle-school style prank wars, burning popcorn on all floors of the dorm (which will always result in approximately 20 people making Facebook statuses about it, as if everyone didn’t smell it already. You know who you are.), knocking on the first floor windows at night, playing catch between patios from the different buildings, moving the furniture in the living room on a daily basis, and complaining about everything that has to do with on-campus living, even though you live in a fantastic dorm that is better maintained than most hotels in the area.
7)Safer and more socially acceptable activities include attending RHA programs, hanging out with your RAs, and having normal events like dinner parties with your fellow residents.
PS: It also may help to figure out your living situation for next year before leaving for the summer. Just a tip.
8) Do freshman things. You’re only a freshman once. It’s like YOLO, but it’s…YOAFO? Can we make that acronym happen in the near future? Anyways, it’s true. Once you reach sophomore status, many actions become unacceptable.
9)-Feel like wearing a lanyard around your neck (especially the bright red “WILDCAT FOR LIFE” ones)? Go for it! Don’t forget to attach your CatCard on the front so everyone knows who you are. It’s all about the image, people.
10)-If you never experienced walking to Highland Market in a dress and heels to consume a breakfast burrito between the hours of 10 pm and 3 am, now is the time to do so. Alongside that, if you need to get the frat party thing out of your system, let it be now.
11)-If you haven’t changed your major at least 4 times already, you’ve got 5 weeks to do it. It doesn’t matter if your new major pertains to your interests in any way whatsoever-you’re a freshman. You change majors like you change your Nike shorts. That’s just the way that it is.
12)-Essentially, this is the one year you can really get away with anything you want with very little consequence. Not that I condone irresponsible behavior, but live it up. YOAFO.