In coming freshmen, CONGRADULATIONS! You will soon be part of the best place for higher education and the best family in the nation, THE WOLFPACK Family. Get ready and prepare for your next four years at State with some of these tips.
1. Be open and meet new people. If you live at UT, Tucker/Owen or anywhere on central campus keep your doors open, hang out on Tucker Beach and meet as many people as possible. Looking back some of my best days here were hanging out with the people I met in the dorms having random experiences or participating in the Pokie Sticks nights on our hall. Branch out and don’t just hang out with the people you might already know.
2. Join an organization. Look for something you are interested in; join a sorority, be part of student government or become part of HerCampus/NCSU. Look to see all the amazing opportunities and clubs State has to offer. Sorority recruitment is a great way to meet people and be involved in something bigger than it seems. Don’t knock something until you have given it a shot and take advantage of the networking and skills you can gain from these activities.
3. Take classes that interest you. When picking classes don’t just look at grade distribution or rate my professor, do something you think will be fun to learn about. Taking a class that is supposedly as easy “A” might not be in the end if the topic doesn’t interest you. If you want to sign up for animal science, but your BFF isn’t into it that is fine, the grade in the end is on your transcript not theirs.
4. Explore all your on campus resources. Don’t wait till you’re a senior to realize all the great resources NC State has to offer. The tutor center is free and easily accessible for many different classes. Get to know your advisors, teachers and deans. They can help you get classes you need, give you advise on these classes, and most of the time they really want to help you. The career center and ePack are perfect ways to get opportunities for resume building, internships and jobs and it’s only offered to NC State students. You can look online for other opportunities State has to take advantage of.
5. Have Fun. I can’t stress this enough. Would you rather look back on your college days and say you had the highest GPA but not fun! Find a way to balance school and a social life. School is why you are at NC State, learning is very important but this is the only time in your life where school is your only job, so to speak. So go out and make your undergrad experience the best days you can.
Hopefully this is a start to help in-coming freshmen know a little about the insides of NC State. But in the end it is your own path you make, so make it count and make it the best times of your lives.