Starting college is an exciting new chapter in every student’s life. From getting to choose your own courses or shopping for the perfect outfit for your first day on campus, to arriving at classes early to scope out the guys (or girls) in your class. I remember being a senior in high school and not being able to wait for college. Not being able to wait for the chance to get out on my own, make my own schedule, come and go as I please, and be an ‘adult’.
Now, don’t get me wrong, all of those things are mostly true, but like that old saying goes, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ or something like that. College can be an amazing experience or an eye-opening one. Most likely, for those of you who’ve been in the sheltered bubble of high school (which we’ve all been in at one point or another), it’ll be both.
So, keeping that in mind I’ve decided to impart my massively great wisdom on the new arrivals of Middlesex County College and give freshmen five sure fire ways to keep your head above water and survive your first semester of college.
Take a look around, you are not the only new person walking around the MCC campus.
The great thing about being a freshmen, whether it be in high school, college or any academic environment is, it’s super easy to spot other freshmen. You all have this adorably lost and overwhelmed looks on your faces. This is not a judgment, just an observation from spending three semesters walking around campus looking at new students. You’ll always notice other freshmen either by the way they scamper around campus running to and from class (afraid of being late) or by how they walk slowly and take in the scenery of the entire campus like it’s the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen. Make friends with these people if you don’t already know them. Chances are they are most likely going through some of the same issues you are as a new student.
If you are attending class on Main campus, come at least 30 minutes early for class. Yes, that’s right, you heard me correctly. At least 30 minutes. As in if you can get here earlier, do that. This one is immensely important. Seriously guys trust me, you’ll thank me later.
MCC has over 12,000 students that matriculate throughout our three campuses. Main campus has a little over 3,000 parking spots. Now, I’m no genius in math, but even I know the ratio on those numbers suck for us commuters. MCC offers classes as early as 8 a.m., therefore the parking lot starts filling up by 7:30 a.m. Students who have class at 9 a.m. get to campus by 8-8:15 a.m. I’d say the two lots that fill up the quickest are Lots six and four, due to the fact that they’re pretty much the closest parking spots you can get to all the essential buildings on campus. Think I’m kidding? I dare you to show up after 8:20 a.m. for a 9 a.m. class. By the time you find parking and get to class not only will you be about 30 minutes late, but you’ll be so highly frustrated that you won’t even want to go anymore. You’ll probably just go back to the car and go home, or sleep until your next class starts. Not that I’ve done either of those things.
On the first day of every class your professors will give you a syllabus detailing all of your assignments, scheduled tests and quizzes, and grading procedures. Read it, not skim, read.
They give you these beautiful packets of paper so there aren’t any surprises. (Try not to lose them, some professors are testy and get crabby when you ask for another one.) They could be a page long, or if you have a crazy professor who thinks their class is the only one you’re taking it could be five to nine pages long. (If you get one of those teachers tread carefully. Don’t complain about the syllabus…you most likely won’t get to everything anyway. Or you will get to everything and then, well you’re just shit out of luck.)
College is an institution of higher education, and offers an array of academic and extra curricular activities to all of its students. Take advantage of it.
College is your chance to find yourself, or if you’ve already found yourself, to add to the person you’ll become. MCC caters to its’ students so take advantage of the opportunities it offers. We have close to 100 clubs and organizations. Get involved. Don’t just attend classes and make friends. Connect to the college community and give back. Yeah, I know that sounds awkward, but it’ll give you something to do when you’re bored. (Not that I actually have the chance to get bored, but you might.) From sports, international traveling, leadership conferences, and creative endeavors, to anime and theater club, our campus is full of ways to make yourself more knowledgeable, and for those of you planning to transfer to a four-year college, more marketable.
Manage your time wisely. This might actually be the most important tip on this list. (Well, aside from the parking of course.)
College is not like high school. Your professors are not going to remind you 15 times that you have an assignment due. They aren’t going to yell at you when you don’t hand it in. They’re just going to give you a zero. Little fact; just because they don’t ask for your assignment, doesn’t mean it’s not due. This is where the syllabus comes into play again. Try to stay at least a week ahead of your work. Do all the work on the first week of the syllabus on the first day. All the work for the second week on the first day of the second week and so on. If you don’t settle into a rhythm or try to find a balance between school, work (if you work), clubs (if you do those), studying, and friends you’ll be so tired and overwhelmed by the end of the semester that you wouldn’t have gotten a chance to enjoy your first college experience. Once you fall behind it’s difficult to catch back up so take precautions so that doesn’t happen. Find someone in all your classes to exchange numbers with so if you miss a class you can get your work. (Make sure it’s someone responsible.) Try to attend all your classes. (This is where I always seem to get stuck too, so, don’t worry if you miss one or two.) And hand in your work on time. (They might not tell you they’re deducting points, but trust me they do.)
I guarantee if you follow these five tips to a ‘T’, your first semester at MCC will be a successfully, pleasant one, and if it’s not…well then I guess you’ll think reading this was a waste of your time and my tips were wrong, but the actual truth is you didn’t follow my directions correctly, obviously…duh.
