You’re finally a collegiette™ and living on your own for the first time! Get excited! It’s a whole new experience, full of new people, new places and a new way of life. Don’t panic, with a few of these tips, you can make your transition into collegiette™-life so much easier!
1. Leave Your Door Open!
Once you move in, you’re going to be constantly surrounded by guys and girls who live in your building. If you always keep your door shut, you’re not going to meet any of the people who live on your floor. It sends the message that you don’t want to be bothered by anyone. Leave your door open sometimes so people can meet you but remember that it works both ways-you have to go walk the halls and introduce yourself too!
2. Go To The Gym
Northeastern has a variety of gym facilities on campus, so no matter where you’re situated on campus, you shouldn’t be too far from one. As a freshman, you’ll most likely be closest to the Marino Center on Huntington Avenue, which has a seemingly endless amount of equipment and courts. But if you’re an honors freshman living in International Village you’ll have the luxury of having your own cardiovascular workout facility in your own building. It’s important to get into the routine of hitting the gym at the beginning of the year. We’ve all heard of the “Freshman 15,” so utilize Northeastern’s great gym facilities and avoid it.
3. If You’re Interested In Someone Who Lives On Your Floor…
THINK FIRST! Sure, you’re going to be surrounded by a lot of new people and some of the boys are bound to catch your attention. If you find yourself interested in a guy on your floor you really need to think about what you’re doing. He may be cute but is it worth a year of awkward encounters every time you leave for class, take a shower or do laundry?
4. Join A Club
Joining a club, or a few clubs, is a great way to meet people who you share interests with. Northeastern has a variety of clubs, so no matter what you like to do you should be able to find one that suits you. From the Cycling Club to Distilled Harmony A Cappella to Habitat For Humanity, Northeastern is sure to have a club for you. Just be sure not to join EVERY club because you’ll never be able to make all of the meetings or fully immerse yourself into them.
5. Eat At The Dining Hall
Northeastern has three dining halls-Stetson East, Stetson West and International Village. Although the food is better some days than others, Northeastern’s dining halls are actually pretty good. It’s important to eat in the dining hall because you’re paying for the meal plan and eating out in Boston gets expensive fast, especially for a college student.
6. Stay In Touch!
Yes, you’re away at college and having your first real experience living on your own but don’t completely forget about your friends and family from home. Your parents are going to miss you more than you know, so be sure to check in with them every so often. Remember that you’re going to be coming home for Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, and possibly summer if you’re not on co-op or taking summer classes. Although it’s important to make new friends at school, keep in touch with your couple of good friends from home so you have people to hang out with when you’re back for long periods of time.
7. Facebook
Since you go to Northeastern, you probably are planning on participating in the co-op program in which you work for a semester in a field related to your major instead of attending classes. You may think “I’m only a freshman, I don’t need to worry about my future employers yet,” but you really do. A lot of Northeastern students go on co-op their sophomore year so you may be going into the interview process as a first semester sophomore. Those risqué pictures from freshmen year you forgot about? Your potential employers can, and will, see them. You’ll learn all of this in your co-op class eventually, but for now, avoid having any pictures or content on Facebook you would be embarrassed for potential employers to see.
8. Take The T
Living in Boston, you’re definitely going to be taking the T, which is Boston’s subway. It’s normally $2.00 to get on, but if you buy a CharlieCard at a T Station, it’s only $1.70. The T closes between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. so make sure you have money for a cab if you’re out late.
9. Go To Class
This one seems simple enough, but a lot of once they’re “free” from mom and dad, freshmen forget that they’re at school to learn and do well. The feeling of freedom you have when you go away to college is great, but you have responsibilities too. So if you have an early class on Friday mornings, make sure to set an alarm! Stay on top of your work and make sure you hand in your assignments on time. Your professors aren’t going to ask you why you didn’t hand in your paper, let you hand it in late and only deduct five points. If you don’t turn in your assignment, you’re getting a zero.
10. Your Husky Card Is Your Life
When you arrive on move-in day, you’re going to receive your Husky Card. This has literally EVERYTHING on it. You need this to get into the dining hall, to buy groceries with your Dining Dollars, to buy supplies at the bookstore with your Husky Dollars, to be let into your building and to enter your room. If you lose your Husky Card, you have to pay $15 for a new one so do your best not to misplace it!