Well, we’ve been on campus three weeks today. It’s kind of strange because sometimes I feel like I’m still new here and have a lot to learn, but then again, I’m getting the hang of the buses, going to class, finding my niche…and I really like it here.
This week has gone by pretty quickly, and, as a friend aptly put it, we’ve made it through our first full week of school. Yay! I think I’m finally getting into the routine of school. But boy oh boy is college different from high school. The common phrase that I’ve heard so many times from older students, “You have so much freedom in college” is definitely true. Right now I find that my life is pretty much built around my schedule. Take a look:
I’m taking 15 credits, which is manageable. The only strange thing is that I’m taking 3 writing courses instead of one, and you’ve probably noticed that my schedule is missing a load of general classes (like General Bio, Calculus I, Expos I, to name a few). Despite the differences, I think a typical day for most students look something like mine: The alarm goes off at 8:30, I don’t actually wake up until 8:50, get ready and throw my notebooks and papers into my bag while scrounging for something to eat (like a banana or a granola bar), catch the bus by 9:20, lurch my way through traffic to College Ave, and sprint through the crowd to get to class right at 9:50.
Oh right, breakfast. Well, that usually becomes a kind of brunch or lunch after I get back to Douglass after class. Then I usually do homework for an hour or two before I have to catch the next bus out to College Ave. All of my classes except one are on College Ave, and since the traffic can be a little slow at times, I really have to leave about half an hour before class to get there on time. I realize that I waste a lot of time commuting from campus to campus, but I’m glad that at the moment I don’t have to get all the way from Douglass to Busch or Livingston—otherwise, it would take even longer.
After my last class finishes around 5 or 6pm, I get back to Douglass and eat dinner with my friends (since Neilson Dining Hall is the best!). Following dinner is an immense array of activities—most events take place in the evening in college. So far (if you know me, you’ll know I’m really, really, really trying not to over-commit) I’ve looked into the SEBS Pre-Med/Pre-Dent Society that meets every-other Wednesday night and the R8 Christian youth group every Friday night, and I’ve attended some of the few remaining orientation activities. Last night I went to a program called “Rutgers Professors Reveal the Secrets to Success at RU,” so now I have the tips to being a successful student here…including going to class, utilizing the available resources, going to office hours, learning not to procrastinate. Ok, I’ve got to work on that last one. But since my friends and I were among the first 50 people to get there, we each received a copy of What Every College Student Should Know written by a Rutgers professor.
I think it’ll be an interesting read, and from what I’ve heard, the book is immensely helpful for choosing classes, which is great! I’ll definitely be consulting it before choosing classes for the spring semester.
Ok, it sounds like I hole up and do nothing but study all day (it’s probably true for now), but it’s really quite a challenge juggling academics and a social life. Yes, you do have freedom in college, but sometimes freedom means putting down something you really want to do in order to do something you really need to do first. So…the (many, many) other extracurricular groups at the Involvement Fair that sounded really interesting will have to wait…for now!
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