Week One: College Life

My first week of college is officially over, and I've been asking myself: What in the world have I learned? In class, I've honestly learned very little. Mostly, we have had syllabus quizzes and spent our time deciding where to sit and who wants to drop. It's outside of class that I've learned a lot. Too much in fact to put in paragraph form, so I'm just making a list. Here are the ten most important things I've learned during my first week at the University of Tennessee:

1. You really do have to go to class. Teachers still take attendance even in my lecture classes with 600 people. They just use these fancy "clickers" that you have to pay $50 for. Plus, if you miss more than three classes, they start docking you grade by a letter (a.k.a. from an A to an A- to a B+ to a B-, etc.) Once you miss 9 classes, you automatically fail. Yeah, no skipping for me.

2. There really is a big difference GPA wise between an A and an A- and a B and a B+, etc. I haven't really figured it all out yet, but I do know that you have to be careful.

3. Time management is key. It is WAY, WAY, WAY too easy to put off work here, because living in a residence hall feels like a slumber party all the time. There will ALWAYS be friends going to the movies or the mall. There are always frat parties and pick-up games of ultimate Frisbee. Anything that can stop you from doing your homework will happen. Then, you find yourself up at all hours of the night scrambling to complete that English essay. You have to learn to make time for everything or you won’t have time for anything.

4. The meal plans are a total rip off if you don't know how to use them. i.e. CHECK to see when the cafeterias close so you don't have to eat out every night like me. CHECK to see when and where you can use your meal equivalency. Lastly, don’t be afraid to eat alone or eat with someone you don’t know. It’s a great way to meet new people when your friends no where to be found.

5. Teachers don't baby you here. They expect you to know what's assigned even without them telling you. For example, at UT they write it on "Blackboard." You have to check it constantly just to stay on top of things.

6. That brings me to my next life lesson: SYLLABUSES ARE YOUR COLLEGE BIBLES. The professors outline the entire class for you from the get-go. All you have to do is follow the road map. And yet, it's still harder than you think. It’s easy to fall behind and feel completely desperate, but if you stay on track with the syllabus this will be some other freshman’s horror story and you can just shake your head and feel sorry that they never read my blog.

7. So why is it so hard to follow the syllabus? Well, because you have to devote more time outside of the classroom than you ever imagined. In the words of my Chemistry 120 professor, "You must devote an hour a day, every single day to get a C in the class. If you want an A, be prepared to live and breathe chemistry." Easy enough, right? WRONG, because every single class holds this philosophy. It's might be easy enough to live and breathe chemistry and biology at the same time, because you get biochemistry. It gets a little more difficult, however, when you're immersed in biochemistry in French from a sociological prospective. Seriously, what does that even mean?

8. Drinking is STUPID. It's expensive. College kids can't afford it academically or financially. If you want to drink, DON'T. That is the single best piece of advice I an offer. College is hard enough when you're sober. With a hangover, it's impossible.

9. Textbooks are EXPENSIVE, so you need to actually read them. Why pay $200 for a book you never open? Seems ridiculous, huh? As for campus textbook reservations, I have mixed feelings. I’ll admit that it made purchasing my textbooks EXTREMELY easy. That ease comes at a cost, though, because I definitely paid top dollar for them. Overall, I would recommend the program to freshmen their first semester, because they need to focus on the transition into college life rather than where to get the cheapest textbooks. Nonetheless, next semester when I feel more adjusted, I will be shopping around for the lowest price.

10. This one was probably the hardest one for me – a former fashionista – to embrace. No one cares if you look cute during class. The pedestrian walkway is not a catwalk. Name brands and perfect hair rule do not rule the world – that was high school. So sleep an extra 20 minutes, wear shorts and t-shirts, and don't bother to straighten your hair in the mornings. After walking a mile and a half up and down hills to get to class, we all look windblown and sweaty anyway. : )