Thinking about my return to SLU for my sophomore year was really exciting, I couldn’t wait to meet up with old friends, meet new people and get back to a life without parents looking over my shoulder. Most importantly, I looked forward to being a sophomore and knowing things like where my classrooms, the best place for a quick lunch and the best views from the library are. Now, armed with a few lessons learned last year, I would like to pass on a few words of advice to the new students.
My first words of wisdom are: Get to know people. You are more than likely to end up in a class or two in which you don’t see a familiar face, so make friends or, at least, acquaintances with students from different classes. It may seem odd at first, but you may someday need their help. Countless times I’ve had to call (or received a call from) someone in my class to find an article, a syllabus, or the directions for a term-paper. Because of these calls, I saved myself (or my classmate) the embarrassment of showing up to class empty-handed, or from reading the wrong chapter for the quiz. Plus, some of my fellow classmates are now my best friends.
My next word of advice is to get active. College offers a plethora of opportunities, with hundreds of sports, clubs and organizations in which to get involved. Your mind is important, but you need to keep your body healthy, too, and SLU hs a newly remodeled recreation center. If you are too busy or too over committed as is, then just go to the Simon rec for an hour or two every so often to remain healthy and fit. Joining campus organizations also helps you become more diverse. You can meet people of different faiths, backgrounds and even countries, which broadens your understanding of the world.
Another important lesson I learned is to have food in your room. SLU has a tendency to think that students don’t stay up until four in the morning on weekends or aren’t hungry after 2 a.m.. Having some simple things to eat in your room prevents you from dishing out $10 to Jimmy John’s every weekend or living on a diet consisting only of Papa John’s. Also, if you have food in your room, you can keep yourself from adding on the freshman 15 because you aren’t eating cafeteria food all the time. You can also eat the types of food you really like, rather than what Gries happens to be serving.
Another important thing to remember (and a personal favorite), is that you need to sleep. I love to hang out with my friends and talk about life until long after the sun has gone down, as well as read organic chemistry well into the morning; but the truth is, you need your sleep. Sickness spreads quickly on campus, as you shall see mid-semester, and if you aren’t sleeping you are more at risk to become sick. College is the one place you don’t want to be ill. You also need to sleep so that you are aware of what is happening in class. Some classes are boring enough, and running on four hours of sleep isn’t going to be much help.
A big thing to remember is to try not to get behind. I know that in classes that ask for you to keep a journal or other weekly assignments, it is tempting to leave these to the last minute. I have witnessed first hand how much of a pain it is to write 20 journal entries in a weekend, or how frustrating it is to read a novel in a night because you put it off to the night before the test. A little at a time keeps the mind sane and the weekend open, and after some weeks that you will have, you won’t want to dedicate the weekend to writing summaries about current events that you read about two weeks ago.
My final word of wisdom is to explore your options. College is one of the rare places that you can explore the world and find yourself. If you have the opportunity to take a class that interests you, take it, even if it doesn’t go toward your major; if you want to see Europe, go abroad for a semester (we have campuses and connections around the world) if you wanted to be in a play, try out. College is full of opportunities, and it would be a shame to put all of your time and money to waste, so study, exercise, eat healthy, sleep and live.
James Ahearn is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.
