The first week of school really starts the week before… You buy school supplies with and shop for the trendiest clothes you can find. You might even go as far as to pick your outfit for the entire week.
Tip #1 – Wear comfortable and breathable clothes.
Do not wear high heels or super fancy, short dresses. There are many stairs on campus. It’s going to be hot and humid. Most importantly, school is not a club; no one is going to buy you a drink or take you to lunch. “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”
You’re going to pack a bag of some sort with all the school supplies you bought that you can’t wait to use.
Tip #2 – Do not over-pack your bag.
Keep it to a minimum by packing a small folder with no more than 10 sheets of paper and 3×5 cards, a pen, a pencil, hand sanitizer, a planner, a bottle of water, your student ID and some cash.
It can take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes to walk from the very back of campus all the way to the front of campus. It’s also going to be hot – you don’t need that extra weight that could add to your exhaustion. Don’t waste your time bringing your books — you won’t be using them until the second week of class.
Tip #3 – Plan to arrive on campus at least an hour to an hour and a half early. However, if you drive, get to school by 7 a.m. or after 3 p.m.
If you arrive anytime between 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., you will encounter a parking nightmare, and you will spend anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour looking for parking. It’s going to be like that the entire first week, so be prepared.
Tip #4 – Check into the University Student Union and quad areas as often as possible every day that first week of school.
There will be many events going on that are held by numerous organizations and the Associated Students Inc. There will be lots of give-aways and free food. There will be music, fun and information that will be valuable to you during your time on campus. So stop by and pay attention. As you arrive to your classes, you’re going to be so excited to learn about your classmates, teachers and course content. You might even be anxious to receive your first assignment.
Tip #5 – Don’t anticipate staying the entire class period, learning any material or to be assigned any real work the first day of class.
The real purpose of the first day of class is to take role, drop students who don’t show up or are late, to add students who actually want to be there, to go over the course syllabus and to learn about one another. If you do get an assignment, it’s most likely going to be some questionnaire about yourself, so the teacher can get to know who you are and what you look like.
You’re a part of The Beach now. Take lots of pictures, tweet, check in on Foursquare, SnapChat, Facebook your experience and go wild on social media without annoying your teacher.
Tip #6 – Hashtag the school or any of the following organizations based on your post or location (#csulb, #asi, #usu, #daily49er).
You can also SnapChat the school, and they will repost your pictures (csulbsnaps). This is a great way to be and feel involved with the campus in a fun and trendy way.
Wish I would have read this earlier, I arrived at campus 45 minutes early to find parking… non… Missed my first class, at least my instructor was cool about it.