By: Ashley Vierra / Staff Writer
The first week of school has already passed. But for many incoming freshmen the notion of college can still seem exhilarating, thrilling, petrifying, and freeing, all at the same time. It can be a very exciting time for most newcomers as well as obscurely frightening. Here are some tips to survive the freshmen year:
- Don’t fret, being scared is normal: The one thing you need to realize is that everyone is in the same boat as you. There are literally thousands like you starting their first semester of college, just as excited and panic-stricken as you are. With that said, take a deep breath and take it all in. You only get to be a college freshmen once, after all.
- Don’t overload on courses: As excited as you are to start college it’s not high school. In other words, you can’t take six classes and except to ace all of them like you might have in high school. These are more rigorous, difficult courses and in more ways than one. It may not seem that way at first, especially I your grade relies solely on exams. What this means is that you either pass with the exams or fail. There is no in between, happy medium, or class assignments that can assist in raising your grade. This inevitably makes it much harder to pass any class you take.
- Avoid purchasing books on campus: This may seem like an odd or ridiculous notion at first and most won’t actually go through with this tip their first semester and that’s fine. Once you’ve had the experience of paying for outrageously expensive books, listen up. You can get your course books for a much cheaper, affordable price on various websites. Some of these include amazon, eBay, and chegg.
- Always have an umbrella handy: Even If it’s one of those sunny, ninety-degree, beautiful blue-skied days bring an umbrella- trust me on this one. Miami is infamous for its fairly unpredictable weather; in fact the only predictable part of Miami’s weather is its unpredictability. Hope that made sense, so yeah; bring an umbrella to school. Every day.
- Don’t feel bad about getting lost; it happens to the best of us: FIU can be a pretty intimidating place to be, especially as a newcomer just recently inducted into this seemingly huge school. Getting lost is part of the process, how else are you supposed to know where all the University’s buildings are located?
- If you`re trying to get work done,avoid the Graham Center: GC can be a fun place where you can meet new people but not great for completing homework or studying. For one, there is always music playing, loudly may I add, which can be distracting to most people while concentrating. Secondly, there is always an event or social gathering going on which will make it nearly impossible to focus.
- Be as actively involved as possible: There are many clubs available to join at the University, the choices are endless. Joining a club is a great way to get involved, become comfortable with the University, and meet new and interesting individuals.
ashley.viera@fiusm.com
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