As of 4:51 EST, my freshman academic year is over. It really was cathartic when I handed in my FYP exam booklet. Professor Kee was one of the very first professors that I met, and he has been one of my professors for the entire year. He really helped me strengthen my writing skills, and challenged me to always write above my potential. When he shook my hand and told me to have a nice summer, my freshman year was officially over.<\/p>\n
With a year\u2019s worth of experience on the hill, I\u2019ve decided to create a \u201cDo\u2019s and Don\u2019ts\u201d list for the incoming first-year students to help you all prepare for and enjoy your freshman year. <\/p>\n
Do\u2019s: Don\u2019ts:<\/strong> And that\u2019s about all of my advice for all the incoming freshmen out there. Your freshman year will be difficult, but if you take advantage of all the opportunities that are available to you here at Holy Cross, then it\u2019ll be much easier. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As of 4:51 EST, my freshman academic year is over. It really was cathartic when I handed in my FYP exam booklet. Professor Kee was one of the very first professors that I met, and he has been one of my professors for the entire year. He really helped me strengthen my writing skills, and … <\/p>\n
<\/strong>\u2022 Do join at least one club. Try something new. Get as involved as you can. You\u2019ll meet upperclassmen who have probably taken some of your classes, know their way around Worcester, and understand what it\u2019s like to be a freshman.
\u2022 Do take a challenging upper-level course your freshman year if you can. I\u2019m very glad that I took US Intelligence Communities with Professor Bunke. That class pushed me to do my absolute best, and I also had a fantastic professor that I\u2019m probably only would have met my senior year. So, if there\u2019s an upper-level class that interests you, take the initiative, and contact that professor to see if he or she will let you in.
\u2022 Do speak up in class. Show your professors that you read the material before class, and that you know what you\u2019re talking about.
\u2022 Do utilize your professors\u2019 office hours. Even if you had a question or just wanted to talk about a reading for class, talk to them in their office. When you have a paper due, go and talk to your professors about your topic. Even if you don\u2019t have any questions about your paper, talk to them to see if they have any suggestions (they are brilliant people, so they\u2019re bound to have some) for you. I really cannot stress this enough!
\u2022 Speaking of papers, do go to the Writers\u2019 Workshop. It\u2019s always beneficial to have another pair of eyes read over what you\u2019ve written (especially if your paper is worth 25% or more of your grade), and your professors are alerted if you received help from a writing tutor. It\u2019s basically a free tutorial in writing. Why not take advantage of it?
\u2022 Do take advantage of Worcester. This is a very vibrant city. Do what my friends and I did one sunny Saturday \u2013 take the Woo Bus into town, go explore along Main, Center, and Franklin streets. Find some restaurants that you like. (For future reference, get the eggplant lasagna at Brew City. It is fantastic.) Find some shops. Even though there\u2019s free transportation to Boston and Providence, you don\u2019t have to leave Worcester every weekend to find something entertaining.
\u2022 Do bring an external hard drive or some other form of external back up. I was lucky that I had an external hard drive with me when my computer randomly crashed. If not, all of my files might have been damaged. Save all of your papers, music, photos, and other information to it.
\u2022 Do bring a rug, fan, and lamps to college. The bigger the rug, the better. Fans are key during August and September. You will need as many lamps as you can fit in your dorm room.
\u2022 Do work at Kimball if you can. You will meet so many other freshmen and also get about fifty dollars each week. That fifty dollars goes a long way in college, trust me. I didn\u2019t want to work at first, but now I\u2019m very glad that I did. Plus, I\u2019ll be a Kimball captain next year, so you should definitely sign up for one of my shifts. Just kidding. Well, sort of.
\u2022 My parents are going to kill me for this one, but do use Facebook during the summer to get to know some other freshmen. I met Katie through Facebook, and we\u2019ve been friends ever since. There\u2019s a Holy Cross 2012 group on Facebook, and that\u2019s a great place to go if you have any questions or concerns about absolutely anything regarding your freshman year. However, a word of caution. Do not get addicted to Facebook!
\u2022 And, lastly, bring a camera. I only posted maybe a tenth of the pictures that I took on my blog. Even if your friends think you\u2019re weird for carrying a camera around with you everywhere (yes, my friends do), it\u2019s a great way to remember your freshman year. Carrie and I were looking at her photos last night, and we were crying from hysteria over a couple of them. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Don\u2019t take a class for just a requirement. Explore the different required areas you have for courses that genuinely interest you. Two of my courses next semester genuinely interest me, but they also fulfill two requirements.
\u2022 Don\u2019t bring all the clothes in your closet. Believe me, if you haven\u2019t worn it in the past three weeks, don\u2019t bring it. You will not wear it. You can always go shopping for clothes if you didn\u2019t bring enough, but trying to stuff all your clothes into boxes to go back home is a pain. Believe me, I\u2019m going through this right now.
\u2022 If you live close to Holy Cross, do not go home every weekend. There are always events on campus, and you truly miss out on the college experience if you\u2019re always at home. Go home when you need to, and leave it at that.
\u2022 Don\u2019t spread yourself too thinly. Time management is so essential in college.
\u2022 Most importantly, try not to pull an all-nighter. I have only pulled one all-nighter this entire year, and I think that my body is still trying to recover from it. It\u2019s just not worth it. Whatever you write will not be erudite at all; if you\u2019re lucky, it will be somewhat understandable. Sleep is important.
\u2022 Lastly, do not under any circumstances get addicted to Cool Beans. You will spend all of your dining dollars within a few weeks. <\/p>\n