Entering a large university like UK as a freshman can seem overwhelming at first. It may even be overwhelming throughout the entire time a student is here.
Students at UK may often stop and think to themselves, just as students anywhere may think, “Oh my! Tests, tests, tests!” Or even, “Wow, I go to the University of Kentucky… #1 in college basketball and a huge university.”
While our basketball team is nationally recognized and celebrated, Terrence Jones and Coach John Calipari aren’t exactly on your mind when you first get to campus with all your belongings and your parents leave you alone in a new dorm room.
As a freshman, there is a lot of information and things to learn about before the classroom work even starts, such as how the Flex and Plus accounts work, how to do laundry or how in the world Blackboard works. These things, though they are confusing at first, become very simple once explained during K-Week.
K-Week is the week after moving in, where experienced students host events and help freshman and transfer students accommodate.
If things are not understood after K-Week, I encourage freshman to ask each other or ask an older student for help. Southern hospitality is strong here at UK and the older students know the ropes as they were once in your shoes.
To help those thinking about coming to UK or just starting here themselves, I talked to enrolled students at UK about what they wish they knew coming in to the University and about their experience here.
When asked what one thing he wished he knew more about before coming into UK, Cody Thurston said, “The making of study habits.”
Cody is in the class of 2015 at UK and says he has spent many hours at the William T. Young Library. Study habits are usually made in high school, but that is when parents and teachers are constantly breathing down a student’s neck. College is the exact opposite. To make or break a habit takes 21 days, according to experts.
Cody later said that he encourages incoming freshman to look into getting involved on campus, such as joining a fraternity or sorority, a club or even a club sport. These are all great ways to meet new people that have similar interests or hobbies. Club sports are also a good way to stay away from that “Freshman 15.”
Going off to college changes relationships, whether it is the making of the new, strengthening the old or even diminishing old ones. Being completely on your own may seem to “change” people.
Daniel Wheeler, a freshman at UK, said, “You can learn more about yourself with half-a-year of freedom than 18 years of living at home.”
For the first time for most teenagers they are independent. This is why most take advantage of their freedom, some even take it too far. Cody gave his advice to perspective freshman saying, “People just need to keep their morals and beliefs in mind when making decisions.”
College years are a time of not only expanding education, but also time for a person to spread their wings and get to know the world. There are too many positives about UK to name, the students often celebrate athletics and academics and take pride in the “Big Blue Nation.”
Once a student gets settled into their living space, it is almost guaranteed that out of the over 25,000 students here, they will find life-long friends. Friends that will all teach and learn from each other about how to survive that wicked first year of freedom.