Navigating the First Semester Of College

So my first question, and this is for everyone, what is the first thing a student should do before the semester starts? Kirsten?

I think you should get all your ducks in a row.

I didn't have mine when I first started, so it was really kind of hard to get them back when I started because it got a little hectic.

Well, I guess I'm going to answer that as sort of as a professor and sort of as a parent.

My daughter is a junior in college.

I often recommend that she take a good look at her schedule and make sure that she understands where she's supposed to be, when she's supposed to be there.

And does she have what she needs to start that first week? Because sometimes there are some things that you need beforehand and there are some things that you don't need.

So that's one thing that comes to mind in terms of preparation for this semester.

Yeah, just to piggyback what they already said, just have things already prepared.

Know where you're going, what you're doing.

If you're a first year, true first year student, go visit campus.

It's always surprising to me how many students show up the very first day of class.

It's their first time on campus.

So, yeah, go to campus before the first day of class.

Find where your classes are.

And if you can, if you know you're going to need some help with things, try to at least look into programs before you get to campus.

That's really good.

Can I just say something? Andre, that is such good advice because I honestly had not thought about visiting campus before you come.

And I've seen some students on that first day, they don't know where to park.

And so they get confused about parking and it throws them off.

And then they're late for their first class and they're lost getting there and they're feeling confused.

So that's a really, really good piece of advice.

Yeah.

I was at the Centerville campus my very first semester.

So my next semester I was downtown and I was like, I don't know where to park.