Pulling up to a new building towering many feet above you from the ground, cars honk viciously behind you as you attempt the elusive parallel park on a busy traffic congested street of downtown. You manage to leave the car, your heart pounding from pedestrians blowing smoke into your face and bikers nearly running you over, until you finally dart across the street on a quickly changing yellow light.
Welcome to Concordia.
Of course, starting at a new school and journeying toward what some like to refer to as, “Adulthood” (or university) is a big change for most. Spending your days in the busy and crowded heart of downtown can be frightening; it sure was for me at least. Yet being a “freshman” might not take too hard of a toll on you, if you start school with the right tips on how to make your first year a great one and how to get rid of any first year fears!
1. Join a Concordia new students tour
A student tour in theory can sound, well, flat-out lame. By the time students have reached the age of 18 and older, nobody really wants to commit to more organized tours, where they’re restricted to listen to a guide and follow them at their pace. Students are reaching that age of independence where they feel they should be doing things on their own and need to prove to themselves that they can manage without help.
The truth is, there’s nothing worse than being that one student who sits in on the wrong class. Then when the lecturer says, “This is Intro to Marketing so if you’re in the wrong class, leave now” you wait for the lecturer to stop teaching rather than bare the humiliation of standing up in front of the whole class. That’s when you wish you had done the organized tour.
The tours are also convenient because they are offered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the majority of the week and can even be booked through Concordia’s website (https://www.concordia.ca/students/success/new/mentor-tour.html).
2. Get Involved
Although the saying, “Get Involved,” sounds like the slogan on a poster hung in a background shot of the high school in Degrassi, the reality is that getting involved at the university level can actually be extremely beneficial for new students. I wish that I had been more involved in my first year because I barely knew anyone at school and it felt very lonely at times.
Forcing yourself to go to networking events or recruitment cocktails for committees, organizations, or clubs at school can be scary if you’re shy or not comfortable in those types of social settings. However, the benefits of meeting people you never would have spoken to or taking on a position in a committee while gaining working skills can lead to the discovery of what type of person you want to become as a real life, full-fledged adult.
Amanda Kost, the President of Casa Cares at Concordia, never thought she would join anything related to school. “ I wasn’t the type to go to anything outside of class.” Kost said. “Yet three years later and I am now president of a committee. I’ve gotten the opportunity to learn so much and meet so many new people! I’m so happy that I decided to get involved because now I feel like I have this life experience and friendships which will last me a lifetime.”
3. Plan out a routine
Most students usually start their first year with a strong motivation to achieve a high GPA, which often quickly dissipates (along with your GPA) as the semester rolls out. Of course, there are extraneous factors which don’t help, like Netflix releasing a new sci-fi original, or Ste-Catherine St. bars lowering their 5 à 7 drink prices. The lack of motivation though, can really be summed up to a lack of consistency.
It may sound unexciting to plan out your life, but creating a routine (whether that involves study time, break time, exercise time, leisure time, or whatever else) will help keep you on track. Thankfully for Concordians, Concordia offers free agendas at the start of the semester, which can be extremely useful for planning out your routine and scheduling your semester.
The CSU (Concordia Student Union) administers these agendas and can even be helpful with any questions or queries new students may have. Reaching out to the CSU (http://csuorientation.ca/) may be great to help make your first few weeks at Concordia a little bit simpler, and it may even be a start to making some new friends!
University is definitely a new stepping-stone for many, but the reality is that all freshmen are in the same position. Of course everyone’s experience is different, but hopefully these tips will help make the first few weeks at Concordia not seem so frightening! After all, we’re all just the same lost souls, trying to find out what future lies ahead of us (one crappy, half-priced beer at a time). And remember, within weeks you too will become a savvy Concordian negotiating downtown streets, wayward bikes and pushy pedestrians with ease. Good luck with the upcoming year, freshmen, and above else, enjoy it!