Tips and tricks for first-year students
Beginning your college journey can be an overwhelming task that requires students to learn about and adapt to new ways of living that they might have little experience with. The staff here at The Lamron has some advice to help you avoid misadventure (as best we can).
College is a great time to perfect your time management and organizational skills. Now that you are in charge of making sure you get done what needs to get done, it is important to make sure you have at least a vague game plan for each week to prevent last-minute, rushed assignments that you totally (didn’t…) forget about. Finding a management system that best works for you is vital; not everyone operates best using a handwritten planner, to-do list, or itinerary, and that’s fine! For some of us personally, we have found Google Calendar to be a very helpful tool, or using the sticky note application on laptops in order to list what you need to get done this week and check it off as you go! The second option is especially helpful because you can keep it on your desktop screen to limit forgetfulness about an assignment, reading, test, or task for your extracurricular, social, or personal life.
Maintaining some degree of order on your desk, in your backpack, in any folders or notebooks, and in your digital files and tabs (take advantage of that bookmarking tool!), will also help make completing schoolwork go more smoothly and allow you to get work done quicker. Inserting all important events into some sort of calendar as early on as possible (we recommend during syllabus week as you look over the course calendar), so you start off the semester being aware of the workload and are able to anticipate when projects or tests are coming up. This is also helpful if you end up taking a trip (or get sick) during the semester because the assignments you will need to get done will already be right in your calendar, so you can plan to do some of that work ahead of time accordingly.
Use your resources! We know it can be intimidating to attend a professor’s or TA’s office hours, book an appointment with the Writing Learning Center, or get research help from the Fraser librarians, but these people want to help you. At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to make the most out of your time here in any way you can–using these on-campus resources are a fantastic way to do so. It also helps build important professional relationships that can be very helpful to have as your academic journey unfolds! So drop by an office hour and say hello, or ask for clarification on that small detail of your upcoming assignment—your professors will appreciate the effort and see that you care!
Now that we have covered the great expanses of academia, we can acknowledge that college is not just about education. The college environment is also a landmine of establishing a social life among peers, attending parties, participating in extracurriculars, and general self-care/wellness. Navigating your way around these aspects of college culture can be understandably difficult for first-year students. Here at The Lamron, we would say don’t wait to join extracurriculars (maybe even The Lamron, meetings are on Thursdays at 5 p.m. in the office attached to the Union mailroom). Those of us who waited to get involved on campus wished we would have done it sooner, and we want to help you avoid that same scenario. Not to mention, extracurriculars, especially being on the e-board for student organizations, look good on future resumes, so take advantage of extracurricular culture before it bids you adieu. Student orgs. can also be a great way to explore new hobbies to do in your downtime to break up that academic grind.
If going out to fraternities is for you, or something you are interested in trying out, we cannot suggest enough that you do so safely and smartly. Never go out alone, and make sure that you are in proximity of your friends at all times, even if it is just to keep an eye on one another (using Apple’s Find My Friends app is helpful, too!). Establish a safety plan, and make sure that those who head out a little early or stay a little later inform the group as to when they return home. An additional tip is to make sure you take a multivitamin if you go out with some amount of frequency in order to avoid the “frat flu.”
Another minor tip: if you are a transfer student looking for off-campus housing next year, do that sooner rather than later. Rental spots go quickly, so it is important to be proactive in apartment hunting, and don’t be afraid to live alone if that suits your lifestyle the best.
To wrap-up this soapbox session, we recommend that you go out there and take risks—college is the very best time to do so. Learn to feel comfortable with discomfort: exploring new people, activities, or routines is often difficult, but ultimately fulfilling. While college might not turn out to be movie-esque, it is an opportunity not everyone gets to experience, and you can only be a first-year once.
Make sure you are taking care of yourself above all, and take time on the weekends for rest and personal enjoyment; resting and taking care of yourself are vital to maintaining productivity. Overall, just know that while we are offering advice, upperclassmen don’t know everything, either; we are all taking life one day at a time to create our college experiences. No one else can experience your life for you, so make it one you feel fulfilled by. We wish you luck on your journey into the weird transitory time that is college!
Thumbnail via Assistant Opinion Editor Sierra Etkin