You’re finally here. The huge step of college! For many of you, this is the beginning of what will be the most transformative time so far in your life. The first thing you need to do is, take a deep breath, relax and smile. College is very different from high school, but the differences are more good than bad.
You’ll probably be nervous and excited. You’ll probably have a million questions and worries. It’s my hope with this article that some of those worries and concerns can be eased to help your transition as a new university student. I’ll try to cover a quick summary of things that are good to know your first week, and cover topics more in-depth in future issues:
The most wonderful thing I’ve found about college is you can relax socially and be yourself! The high school mentality of who is popular and who’s not, means very little in college. There is something wonderful that happens to students in the first few weeks of college. They quickly lose the clique mentality and they stop letting their circle of friends influence who they can and can’t be friends with. This allows you to open your mind, broaden your horizons and learn more about the world and about yourself. You can certainly find that popular, in-crowd feel if you need it and go looking for it, but it’s no longer the driving force of most students in college.
If you’ve been the unpopular outcast in high school, rest easy, your days of being teased about your looks, clothes, or mannerisms are over! There could be remnants of that in small circles, but on the whole it isn’t the norm and you certainly don’t have to put up with it anymore.
If you’re coming to WSU with lots of friends already from your local school, by all means, meet up with them and have fun, but also make sure you’re open to talking to new people, meeting new friends, and even making friends with those from your high school that you may have never gotten to know.
The main thing is that not having to deal with high school pettiness and cliques is pretty awesome and helps you to grow in a way that will make you happiest. It can be very liberating: embrace the growth that this new freedom allows.
The term “the tunnels” can make some freshmen scared for some reason, but get to know the tunnels and how to navigate them. You’ll be glad you did. It’s not intimidating, they’re brightly lit, look like regular hallways, and are wonderful for getting to class without having to drag out the heavy winter coat or umbrella. You will find many people in the tunnels during the day and if you get lost, don’t be afraid to stop and ask. Most upperclassmen and staff will be happy to stop and help you get your bearings. We were all new to the tunnels at one point and are glad to return the favor.
If you’re a commuter, parking will not be fun. You will hear lots of whining about it, but bottom line: deal with it. In the adult world, no one is owed an easy parking spot. Whining about having to walk across the parking lot is not a valid excuse for being late. In many lecture classes, arriving a few minutes late to class isn’t a big deal unless it’s an exam day and you cannot be late to labs.
Everyone knows parking is bad and there really isn’t any use acting surprised about it two weeks into the semester. We all know it can be a problem and so you are expected to adjust your schedule accordingly.
There are several easy ways of dealing with it. 1. Get to campus earlier so that there are plenty of close spots (parking usually gets crowded at 8 a.m. on the Rike side of campus, 9 a.m. on the Creative Arts Center side), you can use that extra ½ hour for studying. Arriving to campus ½ hour early can save ½ hour of driving around aimlessly searching for a spot. 2. You can also park in the lot behind Nutter Center and take the shuttle. Many people act like this is a huge hassle, but I would suggest that you plan on doing this at least once to see for yourself what you think. I found it quite easy and quicker than driving around hoping for a spot to open up. You can catch the shuttle from the back of Millett Hall and it loops around to several parking lots. If you’re on a long break one day, hop on the shuttle and ride it full circle to see where it goes if you’re unfamiliar with the different parking lot options. 3. Park in a far lot, allow yourself time, wear something other than stilettos and get some good exercise. Whichever route you take, just know that parking is the same for all of us, but with maturity comes responsibility to handle things that might not make us happy.
In future articles, I hope to focus on one topic per week, but I thought this first week there were several things that would help you to know right way. Your first week will feel like a whirlwind as you settle into a routine, but keep breathing and smiling, you will be just fine.
